Many households in Anantapur and Kurnool districts have been reporting fevers for the past 20 days, since the three-day wet spell witnessed under the impact of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal in the third week of August.
The western parts of Rayalaseema have shown a sharp rise in the number of dengue cases.
District Malaria Officer Irshad Ahmad says that out of 119 dengue cases this year, 18 are in September alone. While 11 malaria cases were reported in 2021 so far, seven have been registered in the past week.
A school teacher Anjaneyulu’s son Chetan had high fever for two days after returning from their native village near Kadiri, which had witnessed the highest rainfall in the past two months. “On testing the blood samples he was diagnosed with malaria,” says Mr. Anjaneyulu while taking his son to a private practitioner’s clinic in the city.
The scenario is no different in Kurnool district, where 98 dengue cases were reported during the year so far and 43 of them in September. The district reported a higher incidence of malaria (43 cases) compared with Anantapur this year with September accounting for two cases, says District Malaria Officer A. Nookaraju.
“The majority of private hospitals conduct rapid tests for malaria while Elisa test is essential for confirmation. Many viral fevers have common symptoms and ASHA workers and village health assistants have been screening people depending on their symptoms. COVID-19 test is also being done if symptoms are prominent,” says District Medical and Health Officer Y. Kameswara Prasad.
Private hospitals must report dengue and malaria cases but many of them do not send the details to the District Malaria Officer, he observes.
