Hyderabad: In an interesting finding, a government screening programme found that 300 people in Warangal and Adilabad districts had very high load of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, which causes malaria.
However, they did not suffer from the disease.Of these, 200 had suffered from very high recurrent fevers, but tested negative for malaria. They did not have any malaria symptoms and were treated for fever. The remaining 100 were found to be normal and had strong immunity. The only common point was that they were living in the same area where there was high incidence of malaria.
A senior government doctor said, “When mosquitoes bite those with a very high load of the parasite, they can transmit the disease to those who are immune-compromised. That is the manner in which the incidence increases.”
The screening programme was carried out after 9,000 cases of malaria were recorded in Warangal and Adilabad in 2015. A blood test can ascertain whether one is a carrier of the malaria parasite. This is done in government and private hospitals when a member of the family contracted malaria.
Screening for all members of the community is not possible; whenever there is an incidence within the family or a household, all members need to be checked to verify whether they are carriers.
According to a department official, P. falciparum causes a severe form of malignant infection and can be fatal. P. vivax causes recurring malaria.
“This was the first time that a massive screening programme was initiated by the government to understand the pattern of the disease. The fact that the parasite load was high even in the asymptomatic 300 patients showed that these carriers must be identified and treated for effective control of the disease.”
“Special attention is being paid to these two districts where insecticide-treated mosquito nets are being provided and special drives are taken up to ensure that there is no stagnation of water,” the senior government doctor said.
