AGARTALA, December 8 (TIWN): Tripura state once again found itself in the grip of an unprecedented malaria outbreak in Gandacherra, ninety-three kilometers from Agartala, in Dhalai District. The cases are reported from villages under the Gandachera sub-division. Though no malaria affected patients were reported to have killed so far.

 Talking to TIWN on Sunday  the state Health and Family Welfare Secretary M. Nagaraju said that the villages under the Gandacherra sub-division experiencing malaria outbreak this time. Though the state medical team had already visited the infected areas under the Dhalai district to take a stock of the situation, and as many villagers as was reported infected with the malaria so far underwent blood tests, said M. Nagaraju.

He also said that so far the state govt. had taken certain measures to prevent the situation. The state medical team has been conducting a regular health camp at the malaria affected villages under the Gandachera sub-division. There is sufficient medicine available here in the state to take a stock of the situation this time. M. Nagaraju (Secretary, H & FW) also informed that the medical team from outside will also arrive here in Tripura on December 10 and will visit the areas that has fallen victim to malaria outbreak.

However it is to mention here that as many as 29 malaria patients have been admitted in Tulashikhar Primary Health Centre.

Earlier during the month of September of this year more than 1, 01,025 people, comprising mainly tribals, have fallen ill with malaria and fever. As off now officially  69 people have died and more than 31,374 have been infected. Ninety percent of the dead are children who are below the age of 10 years. This is due to malnutrition with low immunity of tribal children. In 2013, also there were 2,561 malaria cases with one death. The ground reality is said to be much higher over 300 people died.

Earlier during the year 2014 as news spread out about the malaria deaths, a few weeks ahead of the panchayat elections (July 15), the government took a series of decisions: it suspended 50 rural health workers (the lowest tier), reprimanded doctors and cancelled their leaves, and organised health camps. Until July 13, it had organised 4,078 health camps and large-scale sensitization programmes, and flooded the public health centres (PHCs) with second-generation medicines (the state was declared malaria-drug resistant in 2009) and rapid diagnostic kits (RDK). It sent out DDT (used for vector control) spray teams even to the “inaccessible” mountainous areas, home to Primitive Tribal Groups (PGT) like the Reangs, the Tripuri and the Molsom.

Since many tribal population do not complete the full course of drugs, malaria become drug resistant and once a mosquito bites them, it can infect others. Many malaria cases are reported even in winter because of this phenomenon. As May-June is peak season for jhum cultivation the tribals’ are toiling in fields that are swarmed with mosquitoes the tribals do not wear clothes that fully cover their bodies, hence they are susceptible to mosquito bites.