Malaria has suddenly reached alarming proportions with an astonishing number of cases being reported from different parts of the city.
The toll for malaria-related deaths has gone up to 19, while 1,739 test positive in civic hospitals alone
Malaria has suddenly reached alarming proportions with an astonishing number of cases being reported from different parts of the city. It has caused four more deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the malaria toll to 19 and overall monsoon-related death toll to 54 since June.
Due to scanty rain, that leads to water stagnation and in turn allows the mosquitoes to breed, malaria cases have been rising steadily since the beginning of July but the civic authorities have maintained that there is no reason to panic. According to civic records, the numbers are less scary as compared to last year. While 7,210 malaria cases were reported between January to June in 2007, it has come down to 6,287 cases this year.
As per the civic records, there were 1,687 cases of malaria in June, while 1,739 people have tested positive for malaria in July in the civic hospitals alone. “In the past 45 days, there were 19 deaths reported in the city but that is less when compared to last year when there were 29 deaths,” said Dr Jairaj Thanekar, executive health officer, BMC.
Worrisome is also the fact that P Vivax, that was known as less virulent till recently, has claimed quite a few number of lives this monsoon. The latest victims of Vivax were residents of Parel, Worli Naka and Kandivali, who succumbed within days of being admitted to the hospital.
According to civic authorities, it is not surprising that the deaths are being reported from construction heavy areas like Prabhadevi, Worli and Parel. “Most of the sites are callous about clearing stagnated water and do little to stop the growth of larvae,” said Dr Kishore Hargoli, assistant health officer, surveillance, BMC.
Doctors believe that the spread of malaria in Mumbai is because of man himself. “It has become a year-long affair now with patients trickling in through the year,” said Dr Altaf Patel, physician, Jaslok hospital. “Most patients come in very late for diagnosis and thereby complicate the ailment,” he added.
Therefore, to curb the man-made malaria epidemic, the BMC has procured Ultra Low Volume (ULV) spraying machines to reach those corners which are otherwise physically non-accessible. “We have procured 17 of such machines,” said BMC’s Insecticide officer Deepak Adsul. He said that the ULVs are designed to control adult mosquitoes and is also found to be environment-friendly.
The ULVs are meant for odd areas and articles like closed bins, tyres, water tanks on the terrace of buildings and scrap items, that are common breeding grounds. “These machines are so handy that even the railways, the airports and even custom scrap yards are seeking our help to keep mosquitoes at bay,” said Adsul.
He added that the fogging stops mosquito breeding for at least a fortnight. “We are also looking at providing weekly treatments at building construction sites,” said Adsul.
d_sumitra@dnaindia.net
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