No of malaria cases recorded in July highest since 2013

With six cases of malaria being reported last week, the number of people affected by the vector-borne disease in Delhi in 2017 has reached 356. A total of 94 malaria cases have been reported in July this year, the highest for the month in the last four years.

As per the status report of the Municipal Corporations released on Monday, the number of dengue and chikungunya cases recorded since January stand at 365 and 246, respectively, till August 5.

13 cases of dengue have been reported since last week, with 117 fresh cases being reported last month, while 15 were recorded in June.

Despite the municipal corporations claiming to have taken all necessary measures to control the menace, cases of vector-borne diseases in the Capital do not seem to recede.

The situation could worsen, as the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) has found two new species of mosquitoes, namely Anopheles stephensi (urban vector) and Anopheles culicifacies (rural vector) circulating this year. The parasitic infection was lying dormant after mutating, but it has made a comeback after a gap of five years at a time when Delhi is already reeling under the scourge of dengue and chikungunya.

Experts have raised red flags after the resurgence of this deadly parasite and have advised Government agencies to take adequate measures to arrest the spread of malaria, which could play havoc with people's health.

Some experts said that a few inexpensive, eco-friendly measures had been ruled out by medical health officers, resulting in a sudden spurt in cases of vector-borne diseases. The intriguing fact is that even Mayors and Additional Commissioners themselves advocated the need to adopt such practices and pitched for its promotions among masses.

Sources in the civic bodies claimed that spraying of insecticide is a futile exercise and the agencies are fooling people by doing it.

Explaining the process, from procurement of insecticides from a particular company to further distribution to the district heath officer (DHOs), a source said, "First, insecticides are purchased by the agency and then allotted to DHOs on demand. But there is an elephant in the room that has not been noticed till now, as there is no mechanism to check whether the DHOs are further using the insecticides in a desired quantity or not."