Malaria

1. What is Malaria ?             Malaria is a parasitic disease caused by the Genus Plasmodium and spread by female Anopheles mosquitoes. 2. What are the symptoms of Malaria ?             Fever, Headache, Bodyache, Rigor and chill. 3. How does malaria spread ?             Malaria is spread by the female anopheles mosquitoes which breeds in fresh water collections like OHTs, Cisterns, wells etc.  There is no direct transmission from the infected person to the healthy person.  Malaria is spread only through the live of infected mosquito. 4. Is there different type of malaria ?             Yes.  There are 4 types of malaria by P. vivax,  P. falciparum, P. malaria and P. ovale. 5. Do all these are prevalent in Tamil Nadu ?             No. P. vivax and P. falciparum are prevalent in Tamil Nadu & dominated by P. vivax Malaria . 6. What are the different types of vector mosquitoes ?             There are 3 different types of vector mosquitoes.  An. stephensi – Urban vector; An.culicifacies – Rural vector, An. fluviatilis – Food hill area vector. 7. How to eliminate the breeding of mosquitoes ?             Proper sealing of Over Head Tanks, wells and covering all water containers preventing mosquitoes from laying eggs and thereby breeding. 8. Will Malaria cause death ?             Untreated P. falciparum may cause severe complications leading to death. 9. Is there a vaccine for Malaria ?             No. 10. How does a person know that he is suffering from malaria ?             Any person having fever and headache should be suspected as a malaria case and his blood should be examined for confirming the same or otherwise. 11. Is there any specific treatment for Malaria ?             Yes.  All the suspected cases should be given presumptive treatment with chloroquine tablets as per the drug schedule after taking blood smear.             After examining the blood-smear, if the person is found positive for malaria, radical treatment with primaquine should be administered.    Revised TREATMENT SCHEDULE – MALARIA POSITIVES RADICAL TREATMENT Plasmodium vivax (14 days Treatment)*   Age years Chloroquine(mg ) (150mg base) Primaquine(mg)( 2.5mg)      Daily dose for14 days DayI DayII  DayIII Mg base No.of tablets 0-1 75 75 37.5 nil nil 1-4 150 150 75 2.5 1 4-8 300 300 150 5.0 2 9-14 450 450 225 10.0 4 15&above 600 600 300 15.0 6              Plasmodium falciparum (One day treatment only)  Age years Chloroquine  150mg base) Primaquine                (7.5 mg base)  DayI DayII Day III I Day No.of tablets 0-1 75 75 37.5 nil 0 1-4 150 150 75 7.5 1 4-8 300 300 150 15.0 2 9-14 450 450 225 30.0 4 15&above 600 600 300 45.0 6 No primaquine for infants and pregnant women Chloroquine Resistant P.falciparum Areas (Ramanathapuram and Chennai only) Artesunate(50mg tablet+Sulpha – pyrimethamine (525mg tablet)   (ACT)combination Age (yrs) Iday (number of tablets) IIday (number of tablets) IIIday (number of tablets) <1year AS SP ½ ¼ ½ nil ½ nil 1-4 AS SP 1 1 1 nil 1 nil 5-8 AS SP 2 1 ½ 2 nil 2 nil 9-14 AS SP 3 2 3 nil 3 nil 15 & above AS SP 4 3 4 nil 4 nil 12. How to control Malaria ? i.                     Taking complete radical treatment will prevent transmission of malaria parasites. ii.                   Anti-larval activities by application of Temephos iii.                  Anti-adult measures by spray operations in problem areas iv.                 Intensified IEC activities. Treatment Facilities:                                  Treatment is " FREE " in all Government Hospitals, Primary Health Centres and Malaria Clinics. Tamil Nadu Scenario           Tamil Nadu  -  Malaria Problem Areas   Disease Burden MALARIA INCIDENCE IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS OF TAMILNADU Year State Cases Rural Cases Chennai Cases Chennai % Other UMS Cases Other UMS % 2001 31551 5121 23652 75.0 2778 8.8 2002 34523 5490 27205 78.8 1828 5.3 2003 43396 12233 29058 67.0 2105 4.9 2004 41640 10841 28229 67.8 2570 6.2 2005 40594 13560 25153 62.0 1881 4.6 2006 26329 6529 18585 70.6 1235 4.7 2007  22389 7104 14002 62.5 1283 5.7 2008(Upto December) 20211 5737 13503 66.8 971 4.8