Four children die of cerebral malaria in Jharkhand

Four children have died and 45 others have been hospitalised with cerebral malaria in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district. Authorities have intensified medical surveillance, treatment, fogging and awareness campaigns to contain the outbreak in the affected Potka block

Jamshedpur: Four children have died of cerebral malaria, and 45 others have been admitted to hospital with the disease in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district in the last four days, an official said on Monday.

The district administration has divided the affected Potka block, where the casualties were reported, into 10 sectors and deployed medical teams to control the disease, the official said.

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Apart from treatment of patients, the administration also launched a massive awareness drive, fogging and spraying of bleaching powder in the affected areas, said District Civil Surgeon Dr Sahir Pall.

Four hundred and sixty-four people were examined for the disease on Monday, and 28 were detected positive in Potka block, he said, adding that all are under-treatment.

As of now, Pall said four persons were hospitalised in Potka while 41 others were in Sadar Hospital. A medical team was deployed in Kasturba Gandhi Residential School in Potka block, where the first case of cerebral malaria was first detected, the Civil Surgeon said.

The condition of all the patients hospitalised in Potka and Sadar Hospital was stated to be stable, he added. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of East Singhbhum Rajeev Ranjan visited MGM Hospital and Sadar Hospital on Sunday and interacted with the family members of the patients and enquired about their well-being.

The deputy commissioner directed the doctors to ensure proper treatment. Potka JMM MLA Sanjeev Sardar also met the victims’ family members and demanded that the administration take necessary action to prevent the spread of the disease.

A medical team is visiting door to door in affected villages of Potka block, examining villagers and distributing medicines while urging villagers to use mosquito nets as a precautionary measure.