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Village in grip of filariasis
In an alarming development, it is found that Chandupatla village in Nalgonda has the highest incidence of filariasis in the State with 150 cases registered as per official records. Enquiries in the village reveal that the figure is something around 300-350, but the officials put the number at 150 as per the blood tests being conducted by the Medical department during special camps.
Chandupatla in Nalgonda district tops the list of filariasis cases, with around 300 persons affected with the incurable malady
Nalgonda: In an alarming development, it is found that Chandupatla village in Nalgonda has the highest incidence of filariasis in the State with 150 cases registered as per official records. Enquiries in the village reveal that the figure is something around 300-350, but the officials put the number at 150 as per the blood tests being conducted by the Medical department during special camps.
Villagers allege that the blood tests conducted at camps on persons suffering from filariasis were showing negative results. This being the case, the medical officers were taking up mass drug distribution programme only once a year and were doing nothing to curb the menace, they alleged.
To worsen the situation, the local gram panchayat does not have a fogging machine of its own nor does it have permanent sanitation workers to check breeding of Culex mosquitoes, the main carriers of the disease. Filaria-infected persons, mainly women, are not in a position to engage in farm works for even seven days a month which is further making their lives more miserable. Speaking to The Hans India, an agricultural labourer V Laxmamma, said that she fell sick for 10 days after working in the fields for just two days with cold, fever and body pains.
Since filariasis cause swollen feet and legs, women are finding it tough because of anklets of unequal size depending on the infected leg. “My life has been ruined after I was afflicted with the disease and I have become handicapped. I can’t attend to daily routines,” said S Karraiah, suffering from filariasis for the last 30 years.
The condition of RTC driver K Gangadhra Chary is pathetic. He was removed from the job on medical grounds after he was infected by filarial virus 20 years ago. Now, he is eking out his livelihood by running a small grocery shop in the village. A farmer, Narsingh Yadaiah, has become handicapped due to the disease as one of his legs was amputated.
A washerman, Shambulingam, died after his leg was amputated. The District Malaria Officer K Omprakash, who is also in-charge of mass drug programme for filariasis, said Nalgonda district stood in the second place in filaria cases among the five filarial prone districts in the State. So far, 6,838 filariasis cases were reported in the district. As the incubation period of the disease is seven years, the symptoms of filariasis would develop in the infected persons in incurable stage and there is also no permanent cure to it.
He opined that five centuries-old wells, which were dug during the period of Kakatiya dynasty, had become breeding grounds of Culex mosquitoes. The villagers were also not paying heed to the suggestions of health officials to use mosquito nets and maintain cleanliness in the village.
By:P Srinivas
