The civic corporation’s figures show that the slide positivity rate for malaria in the city has come down this June to 2%, from last year’s 5.9%.
Although the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ‘s statistics show that malaria cases have reduced by 48% this year compared to June figures last year, city doctors have requested Mumbaikars to remain cautious.
The civic corporation’s figures show that the slide positivity rate for malaria in the city has come down this June to 2%, from last year’s 5.9%.
Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner, said, “There has been a dip in malaria cases. We have been conducting special health camps across the city and there too we have got very few malaria positive cases.”
However all-state figures still pegs Mumbai in the forefront in malaria positive cases. Maharashtra has already recorded over 28,000 cases of malaria even before the onset of the monsoon. From January to April this year, a total 28,400 people were found positive for malarial infection.
With 16,833 positive cases and 11 deaths due to malaria in the past four months, Mumbai continues to bear the highest burden of the disease in the state, followed by Thane (709 cases) and Kalyan (182 cases).
Dr Ramesh Chaturvedi, head of the department of preventive and social medicine department, said, “Temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius and humidity levels above 70% is favourable for mosquito-breeding. Such a condition prevailed during most of the days in the last four months in Mumbai and could account for a higher number of malaria cases during pre-monsoon period.”
The BMC has also asked all private practitioners to register malaria positive cases with the BMC so that the actual figure of the disease is known.
Doctors are worried about vivax malaria getting virulent. “The falciparum strain of malaria, which is considered life-threatening, causes cerebral malaria by blocking the veins in the brain in severe cases. The patient goes into a coma and suffers convulsions. In the past one year, vivax malaria has become more virulent. We are studying the strain presently,” said Dr Chaturvedi.
The plasmodium vivax strain, which was considered mild and caused no deaths till 2006, claimed 12 lives in city in 2009-10. The strain had claimed two each in 2007-08 and 08-09, also in city. This year, out of the three deaths in June, one was vivax positive.
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