Pic: Hemnath Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network—Udupi (SM)
Udupi, Jul 26: A workshop was organized for media persons on dengue and malaria awareness by Dr Ramchandra Bairy (DHO) and H Ashok, district vector-borne disease control officer.
“Around 530 cases of Malaria were detected up to June in Udupi and have decreased in the month of July,” said district malaria officer Dr Ashok. He added that malaria and dengue is under control owing to the control measures adopted by the department.
Of these, 30 cases of dengue were found in the district of which 14 were from Kundapur, 15 from Udupi, and 1 from Karkala. About 19 males and 11 females including two children were infected with the disease and two cases of Chikungunya were detected in the month of January.
In Udupi, nearly 95 percent of the cases found were plasmodium vivax. They explained that malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect the red blood cells.
“Treatment is a must for 7 to 14 days. Treatment for malaria is available free of cost in all PHCs. Rapid response teams have been formed to attend to any viral fever,” he added.
Malaria is rampant in Heerebettu, Herga, and Shivalli areas of Udupi.
“Construction sites are the breeding areas for malaria. Migrant workers from Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand are instrumental in spreading the vector borne disease,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Bairy urged the public not to ignore fevers and to go for blood test as a precautionary measure.
Dr Ashok said that a meeting was held with the district commissioner and also Udupi CMC officials. He added that CMC has been directed to take preventive measures against malaria.
He said that the CMC should release Rs 30 lac for permanent preventive measures and
demanded that CMC should give the list of construction sites.
Both the experts said that the annual malaria outbreaks can be effectively controlled if things are planned accordingly.