Malappuram, 29 September (IANS). Malaria has been confirmed on Monday among the three members of the migrant laborers living in Malappuram district, after which the state health department has been alerted and has started work at its level for measures related to the prevention of the disease.
Officials have confirmed that four days ago, a child and a woman, who arrived in Ambalapdi area of Vandur from Uttar Pradesh, also include a child and a woman, whose test has come positive for a vector -borne disease. After finding out, he has been admitted to a separate ward of Vandur Hospital.
After finding out the disease, local health officials have initiated immediate action to prevent possible spread of the disease. Joint teams of health department officials, including health inspectors and junior health inspectors, along with ASHA workers went door-to-door awareness campaign in Vandur area and distributed pamphlets for the prevention of malaria.
These teams are identifying mosquito breeding places, especially thrown plastic items and water stored in pots and are advising the inhabitants about ways to reduce the source of mosquitoes.
Junior Health Inspector Shrijit ji said, “We have launched immediate, extensive anti-malaria activities and awareness campaigns in the area.” He emphasized that there has been a history of patients going to another state recently, due to which these matters are currently being considered ‘imported’ (coming from outside region).
The medical department is also running a campaign to monitor fever and collect blood samples, especially among migrant workers, so that any case can be detected immediately and separated.
The focus is on controlling the breeding of mosquitoes and preventing localized transmission in highly sensitive areas. According to health department data, Kerala has gained continuous and intense decline in malaria cases in the last decade. It was a state that effectively eliminated the disease in 1965, but now it is mainly struggling with the spread of malaria from external sources.
According to official reports by the Directorate of Health, there has been a steady decline in malaria cases in the state, which declined by 2,299 cases in 2010 to 656 in 2019, and then reduced to 309 cases in 2021.
-IANS
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