Strategies For Malaria Control In Mangalore City

Abstract

Research questions: What different strategies should be used to effectively control problem of malaria? Objectives: 1) To study the problem of malaria. 2) To study different strategies for effective control of malaria. Study design: Observational and record based. The problem of malaria was studied for three years from 1996-1998 Participants: Individuals having fever. Setting: Community based in Mangalore City. Study variables: Fever cases, blood slides prepared, slides found positive, agency-wise, species-wise and year-wise positivity. Statistical methods: Simple proportions. Results: The yield of cases has been shown to highest in passive surveillance, as reflected in high slide positivity rates. A total of 95,898 slides were prepared, out of which 19,169 were positive for malaria parasite. Thus, the overall side positivity was 20%. The SPR in passive surveillance was 34.5%. Month-wise distribution of positive cases showed high SPR and low Pv/Pf ratios during non-malaria seasons. It is suggested to improve passive surveillance to achieve high SPR thereby leading to substantial saving on slides, laboratory services and transport expenditure.