Ghaziabad malaria cases constant at 15 for 10 days; disease under-reported: Experts

According to official figures, Ghaziabad district reported 128 cases of malaria in 2016; 293 in 2017; 150 in 2016; 142 in 2019 and 13 in 2020

The district’s tally of dengue cases breached the 300-mark on Thursday as 24 fresh cases of the disease came to the fore, taking the total number of such cases to 312 till September this year.

A boy gets tested for malaria at the MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad on Thursday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

However, according to official data, the cases of malaria and scrub typhus have remained constant at 15 and 39 respectively since September 20, with experts claiming that there might be under-reporting of malaria cases.

Officials of the health department said that this year, they are collecting data of each and every vector-borne disease case from government as well as private hospitals.

Experts believe this year, the prevalence of dengue is more than malaria. “From the official figures of the health department, it seems there are no more malaria cases. But that is not the case. We have an average of 2-4 malaria cases which get reported and the disease has not been stemmed as of now. There could be under reporting of malaria cases. The health department should direct hospitals to report cases in a timely manner,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad).

District surveillance officer Dr Rakesh Gupta said every hospital has been directed to inform each case to the district health department. “We will look into the issue of why malaria cases are at a constant for the past 10 days. We will again direct the hospitals to report cases immediately. Action will be taken against hospitals hiding such cases and their registration licence will be cancelled,” said Dr Gupta.

Dr VB Jindal, former president of IMA (Ghaziabad), said that it is practically not possible that malaria cases have stopped coming in. “The malaria fever remains active till end of October and then subsides. The health department must find out why the cases of malaria are at a constant for past 10 days,” he said.

According to official figures, Ghaziabad district reported 128 cases of malaria in 2016; 293 in 2017; 150 in 2016; 142 in 2019 and 13 in 2020.

“Cases of scrub typhus are also not coming nowadays. On an average, we conduct about 1,000 tests for malaria and 100 tests for dengue fever everyday. The instances of scrub typhus have subsided while there has been a spurt in dengue cases in a matter of days,” said Gupta.

The first dengue case was detected on September 1 this year. Of the 312 cases, 228 patients required admission in hospitals, taking the rate of hospitalisation to 73.07%.

The district recorded the first 100 cases on September 15 and the next 100 cases in nine days on September 24. The last 100 cases have been reported in just six days.