Health department reports steep rise in malaria cases

NOIDA: The district is witnessing a sharp increase in malaria cases will 99 people already being reported to have been affected by the health department till July. The district hospital is already dealing with at least 2 cases of malaria every day, while cases of dengue are also being reported daily.
Doctors said that the numbers are likely to rise even more in August.
Health officials said last month saw more people getting affected by malaria in Noida. “We have had 99 cases till now as per the latest report of July. This number is surely going to go up in the month of August,” said Satyendra Kumar, district malaria officer.
Doctors at the district hospital said that every day a number of patients coming in displaying symptoms of malaria and dengue — fever, cold, cough, etc — and out of these patients at least three inevitably have malaria. “Initially, the patients are given medicine to boost their blood platelet count. If that doesn’t help, we refer them to other hospitals,” said a senior doctor at the hospital.
Health department officials said that the cases of malaria till now have been restricted to rural areas of the district.
“Most of the cases that have come up till now have come from Jewar and Dadri belts. We are taking steps to ensure that the breeding of mosquitoes is kept to a minimum. Anti-larva sprays are being used in places that we have identified as risk areas,” added Kumar.
Strict orders have been given out to all private hospitals to report any cases of suspected dengue to the district hospital. After which the district hospital will forward the patient to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme in Delhi. Only after the patient has been verified by the Programme in Delhi, will the case of dengue be declared. “All cases and the monthly report prepared by the health department are forwarded to Delhi,” added Kumar.