Vector bound infections MCC-district health dept to launch final assault

Mangaluru: The Malaria and vector borne infections in this coastal city has become so alarming that the top experts of National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have sat up and taken notes and are advising the City Corporation and the District Health machinery with their findings on how to control Malaria,Fileria, Dengue and Chikungunya.

The MCC and the district health departments have jointly launched a multi thronged offensive on the vector bourne infections in the city and towns in the district. It was launched today in a simple function.

The officias say that the national vector control programme has to be followed without sacrificing any step mentioned in the national guidelines. “The best results will be achieved only when the breeding is arrested, through various control programme including the larvae level control. These are simple methods and every man woman and child can do it on their own with basic knowledge of the life cycle of a mosquito.

But the task will not be easy they feel. In another development the mosquitoes have undergone a behavioral change, “They have started biting between late afternoons and early evenings now unlike in the past when they used to bite only during the night. This cannot be likened to mutational levels, but is just a change in the behavioral pattern. People should be aware of this change and take precautions against bitings”.

The Corporation and the District administration should take up the task of spreading awareness of mosquito larvae control at all levels. “We cannot blame the transmission of vector borne diseases on the migrant people from the endemic areas. We must understand that Malaria and all other vector borne infections was more a social problem than medical”. All future Malaria control programmes should be based on the larvae control say the officials.

The current anti-vector-bound diseases are targeted and highly defined. The task force (comprising of social workers, medical workers and driven by experts) mainly takes up more of an awareness campaign advising the people and demonstrating how breeding could be stopped by taking up simple measures at the family levels - like not allowing fresh water to stagnate in open yards and compounds, all the overhead tanks and the open wells must be covered. Even a simple coconut shell carelessly thrown around can cause breeding, the officials point out.

Though the malaria deaths have come down in numbers the number of infections has remained more or less constant with 2000 cases approximately during the three months monsoon period in the city areas which is considered to be big in modern times.