Bokaro, Aug. 22: The spectre of malaria has come back to haunt Bokaro district, which has already reported over a thousand confirmed cases this year, sending health officials into a tizzy.
Swinging into action, the district administration has sounded a high alert, directing all private hospitals and clinics to report cases of vector-borne diseases to the civil surgeon at the earliest.
Bokaro civil surgeon Dr S. Murmu, who convened a high-level meeting today, spelt out a dos and don'ts to check the spread of the disease. District malaria officer Anil Poddar along with doctors from various public and private heal centres was present.
In his directive, Murmu also asked all hotels, guest houses and rail stations, among others, in the district to keep tabs on patients suffering from high fever and other symptoms of malaria and dengue.
Though not a single case of dengue has been reported from any part of Bokaro so far, there has been a sporadic rise in the malaria cases, especially in Naxalite-hit Gomia, Nawadih, Petarwar and Chas.
According to data available with the Bokaro malaria office, a total of 1,225 cases have been tested positive for malaria till July 31. The maximum 372 cases - 139 plasmodium vivax (PV) and 233 plasmodium falciparum (PF) - are from Gomia block, followed by Kasmar (168), Nawadih (162) and Chas (154).
These figures only include patients at government hospitals and health centres, and not those who visited private clinics or nursing homes.
Later, talking to The Telegraph, civil surgeon Murmu said a special ward had been prepared at Bokaro Sadar hospital to deal with malaria and other vector-borne cases. "We are sending health teams, each comprising five personnel, to all the eight blocks for collecting blood samples of people suffering from fever. This apart, all hospitals and health centres have been asked to send complete list of patients admitted on a daily basis to the civil surgeon's office otherwise necessary action will follow," he added.