Malaria spread still haunts Kozhikode

KOZHIKODE: The spread of malaria continues to haunt the health officials of the district despite their best efforts to contain the disease through cleaning, fighting and resistance campaigns. The reason for the steady occurrences is suspected to be the inflow of a large number of migrant labourers from malaria-infected zones in the country.

In the first three months of this year, 33 cases were reported, as per the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project data, and 13 of them were reported from Ponnamkottu Kunnu and 11 from Vellayil.

The malaria cases reported in the last seven years were 124 (2015), 154 (2014), 181 (2012), 154 (2011), 228 (2010) and 125 (2009). "It is spreading fast mainly in the Kozhikode corporation limits," district malaria officer K. Prakashkumar said.
"The steep rise in cases is primarily due to the presence of migrant labourers from West Bengal and Odisha, where a large number of malaria cases were reported. Migrants are the main carriers."

The health department alerted the labour contractors to inform about the arrival of new workers and to report any cases of fever with shivering at the Beach Hospital, where the special malaria wing is functioning.  

For affected areas the vector control unit of the department conducts indoor residue spray (IRS) on the walls of houses at the high-alert spots as part of an anti-mosquito drive. For three months, the IRS spray would continue to kill mosquitoes that sit on walls, health officials said.

The vector control cell also tests blood samples of persons with suspected fever cases in half-a-kilometre radius of the spot from where malaria cases were reported.