Both Dengue and Malaria have been spreading in an epidemic form and has been scaring people for a long time. Preventing ourselves from these malarial parasites is of utmost importance. People suffer more due to late detection or self-medication. Now, a new fear of drug-resistant malaria is on its way to enter India so a need of awareness is necessary. There are five types of parasites, which causes malaria in humans, of which Plasmodium Falciparum is the most common and responsible for most deaths worldwide. Three species of human malaria parasites are found in India of which Vivax is the most predominant one. BMC has taken a right approach in eradicating the disease from the grass root level by doing door to door survey of water stagnation inside flats and other surroundings in housing societies. Even BMC pasted big posters to create awareness among the citizens of the satellite city. Let us co-operate with BMC and keep the city neat and clean. After all, ‘Health is Wealth’ and we protect the death of human being by maintaining proper cleanliness at home and avoid water stagnation in our surroundings to make sure that mosquitoes did not get a space to breed in our compound.
Malaria would have been a simpler problem if not for its habit of recurring again and again. It is this problem which also keeps the disease alive in a community and makes its control quite difficult. It is time to take a broader outlook at what malaria and its effects on person affected in Mumbai. Malaria parasites are members of the genus Plasmodium caused by P. Falciparum, P. Malariae, P. Ovale, P. Vivax and P. Knowlesi. P. Falciparum is the most common cause of the infection and is responsible for about 80% of all Malaria cases. Female mosquitoes are primary hosts and transmission vectors of malaria. Mosquitoes first ingest the parasite by feeding on an infected human. The infected mosquitoes then carry the parasites in their salivary glands and are then ready to infect a new human host.
Female Mosquitoes feed on blood while male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, thus males do not transmit the disease. Building secretaries of the Multi-storied buildings in the satellite city should see to it that proper remedial measures are taken to control the menace and will definitely help in curbing Malaria cases in Navi Mumbai. Proper steps should be initiated to give useful fuming on alternate days initially and then have it once in a week or so. Stagnant water in society should not be permitted and the storm water in the drainage should not be stagnant to permit larvae to form and become mosquitoes thereafter. Malaria menace can be totally avoided if the building societies apply regular dose of repellents in the drainage system to kill them in the bud.
Some of the symptoms of malaria include fever, shivering, joint pain, vomiting, anaemia, retinal damage and convulsions. The classic symptom of malaria is cyclical occurrence of sudden coldness followed by rigor, then fever and seating lasting for a period of four to six hours.
Preventive measures such as use of mosquito repellents, drinking clean water and living in clean surrounding are advisable. Preventing malaria is much better than curing after getting affected it, as there is a risk of life. Let us not play with our life with carefree attitude.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
