GB Nagar reports 13 cases of malaria in August, CMO orders surveillance of fever

Gautam Budh Nagar reported 23 cases of malaria since June, with August alone accounting for 13, according to data from the district health department.

Last year, the district had a total of five cases between January and August. Officials said this was due fewer tests conducted during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the data, 34,460 samples were tested this year.

Officials said that transmission period of vector borne diseases like dengue, malaria and chikungunya, which spread through mosquito bites, is between July and November.

“The monsoon provides an ideal atmosphere -- an average temperature of 25°C and humidity above 60% -- for mosquitoes to breed. The malaria cases reported so far this year are not confined to any one area of the district,” said Rajesh Sharma, district malaria officer, GB Nagar.

Meanwhile, the GB Nagar administration has issued an alert about viral fever after several people died due to a fever, the cause of which is yet unknown, reported in a few western Uttar Pradesh districts like Mathura and Firozabad .

Gautam Budh Nagar chief medical officer, Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma, ordered that a control room and a rapid response team (RRT) be set up at each health centre in the district, including community health centres and primary health centres.

“This has been done to quickly treat any patient who reports fever or similar symptoms. Each health centre has to maintain a register where report of any such case and action taken in relation to it will be written,” said Dr Sharma.

The officials said that although there are no cases of such fatal fevers in the district yet, these were precautionary measures.