Panchkula
9 July 2018
DIVYA AZAD
Dr Ashish Arora, Consultant Internal Medicine, Paras Bliss Hospital, here today said with the onset on monsoons, residents should take all precautions to prevent vector borne diseases.
In an advisory issued here, Dr. Arora said, Malaria is a vector borne disease transmitted by anopheles mosquito. Other modes of transmission are blood transfusion, organ transplant, shared use of needles, syringes contaminated with blood. It can also be transmitted from mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery.
He further added, “The early symptoms of malaria include high fever (which can rise up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit) with shaking chills, profuse sweating when the fever suddenly drops, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, dizziness while standing or sitting up quickly, drowsiness, seizure, coma, low blood sugar, jaundice, and decreased urine or dark brown coloured urine. If a person presents with symptoms suggestive of malaria he should be evaluated by microscopic examination of thin and thick smear and malarial antigen detection to confirm the diagnosis. It is treated with artemisnin based combination therapy. If there is contraindication to artemisnin based combination therapy quinine can be used.”
“Malaria is caused due to the Plasmodium parasites which are carried by the Female – Anopheles mosquito. Out of five, two species of the parasite, P. falciparum, and P. vivax, pose the greatest threat to human beings. Once the mosquito bites the person, the parasite enters the liver infecting the red blood cells. These begin to grow and reproduce in red blood cells until they swell and burst, releasing new parasites that infect more red blood cells. Once the parasites have infected the blood, the symptoms of malaria begin to appear,” he said.
Dr Arora further suggested preventive measures like use of mosquito coils, mosquito repellents sprayed on skin, screening windows and doors, mosquito-proof bed nets, closed windows during late evenings and early mornings, wearing protective clothing, such as long sleeve shirts, avoiding dark coloured clothes, using Insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying, and removal of all sources of stagnant water to keep malaria at bay.
