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Malaria outbreak and fever that was recently reported in tribal areas of 11 sub-divisions under five districts in Tripura -- Dhalai, Gomti, Khowai, North Tripura and South Tripura claimed lives of over 60 people, leaving more than thousand people affected.
On Wednesday, a three-member team from independent international medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) arrived at the affected area to extend its help to control this outbreak. 'At least 60 people, including 42 children, have died due to malaria since the first week of June,' health department spokesperson Pranab Chatterjee told . 'The MSF has extended its help by providing medicines and expertise to deal with the outbreak of malaria in Tripura,' Health and Family Welfare Minister Badal Choudhury told reporters. He said the MSF has also assured the state government to supply more medicines to help the state authorities in controlling the incidence of the disease. 'Over 1,01,025 people have fallen ill with malaria and fever after the outbreak of the disease. Of the 1,01,025 ill people, malaria germ was found in the blood of over 17,125 people,' he said. (Read: Top 5 promising researches in malaria treatment, prevention and control)
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. (Read: Top 5 promising researches in malaria treatment, prevention and control)
The outbreak of malaria and fever were reported from the tribal-dominated mountainous areas of 11 sub-divisions under five districts -- Dhalai, Gomti, Khowai, North Tripura and South Tripura. All the affected people have been admitted to government hospitals. Of the 60 deaths, over 40 percent people died in their homes. The unofficial death toll stands at 85, said health department sources. The state health minister has sent an urgent letter to union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan to send medicines and experts to deal with the situation that arises after the outbreak of malaria. 'There is a huge shortage of medicines for critical patients suffering from malaria in Tripura,' Choudhury said, adding that the state government has sent an SOS to Tripura officials in Guwahati, Kolkata and Delhi to urgently send adequate quantities of anti-malarial medicines. (Read: How is malaria treated?)
A team of experts from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) led by its special director Awadesh Kumar recently visited malaria-affected areas in the state. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who is regularly holding meetings with all concerned to review the latest situation, has directed 11 ministers to rush to the malaria-affected areas to supervise the disease control programme and necessary services. Leave of all doctors, nurses and health workers has been cancelled. A helicopter is on standby to ferry doctors and patients in an emergency. All the northeastern states besides West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka are highly malaria prone. Over a hundred people die every year due to the disease in the seven northeastern states, excluding Sikkim. (Read: 6 common malaria symptoms)
According to NVBDCP, malaria claimed 1,018 lives in 2010 in India, 754 in 2011, 519 in 2012 and 440 in 2013.
What are complications of malaria?
Malaria is a serious disease that can kill people if it is not diagnosed and treated quickly, particularly pregnant women, babies, young children and the elderly. We spoke to our experts Dr Pradip Shah, consultant physician, and Dr Bela Sharma, senior consultant, internal medicine, FMRI about why malaria is a serious disease and what could be the resulting complications.
Dr Pradip Shah: In India, the most common species that cause malaria are Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax and most cases of complications are seen in falciparium malaria. It may also happen that a patient directly presents to a doctor with a complication due to delayed diagnosis.
Here are some common complications of malaria that he highlighted.
1. Cerebral malaria: In some cases, the malaria parasite can affect the brain and cause brain damage. This is known as cerebral malaria and can lead to paralysis and even permanent damage to the brain.
2. Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome (ARDS): Most common complication of malaria is respiratory distress or breathing problems. It is seen widely in children who suffer from severe malaria.
3. Convulsions:Convulsions can be associated with cerebral malaria. But high fever can also contribute to it.
4. Hemolysis: The malaria parasite is capable of destroying the RBCs completely. This lead to severe hemolyis in some patients. Hemoglobin released from the destroyed RBCs can even enter organs like kidneys and cause kidney failure.
Dr Bela Sharma: All cases of falciparum malaria are potentially severe and life threatening, especially when managed inappropriately. A major reason for progression of mild malaria to complicated or severe disease is missed or delayed diagnosis.
Apart from the common complications discussed above, Dr Bela also highlighted other consequences of severe malaria.
5. Low sugar levels: Very low levels of blood sugar can be caused both by malaria and by drugs being used to treat it.
6. Fluid imbalance: Patients can become salt deprived due to excessive loss with sweating and vomiting, coupled with decreased intake. Read more about 11 complications of malaria you should know
With inputs from IANS
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