Falciparum claims 44 lives since January in Ahmedabad

Two more people died of falciparum on Monday, taking the number of deaths from the deadly disease to 44 in Ahmedabad since January.

A youth and a 60-year-old woman were the latest victims of this disease caused by mosquito bite. Victims have been identified as 20-year-old Nirav Ratanpal, a resident of Isanpur, and Paliben Waghela, a 60-year-old woman, a resident of Shahpur. While Nirav died at LG Hospital, Paliben took her last breath at VS Hospital.

In October month alone, seven people have fallen victim to falciparum while two have fallen to malaria. Also, in October alone, city’s municipal hospitals registered a total of 330 falciparum cases and 201 malaria cases. 158 dengue cases were recorded this month and one death was reported due to the disease. Forty four lives have been lost to falciparum since January and 12 to malaria. Similarly, since January, 1,388 falciparum and 6,322 malaria cases have been registered.

When asked why there was large number of deaths because of malaria, municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra said, “We have checked the causes of deaths and we came to know that they approach the municipal hospitals during the last stage when no treatment is possible and as a result die. But our feedback is that the cases of dengue and falciparum are decreasing.”

A large number of citizens have also been affected by falciparum. On Monday alone, 19 falciparum, 8 malaria and 14 dengue cases were registered.

Talking about the rising number of diseases, a doctor, requesting anonymity said, “If a patient is suffering from falciparum, it affects body’s various parts. In such a scenario, if the patient has other complications, then he becomes more susceptible to death. In other words, if the patient has associated illness or any other complications like asthma, diabetes, etc, then there are chances that the patient might die if suffering from falciparum.”