700 malaria tests daily this month in Ghaziabad

GHAZIABAD: Around 700 tests for malaria are being conducted in the district daily since September 1 and scores of people are being examined for dengue everyday. So far this month, more than 7,000 people have already been screened for malaria, officials said.
With the number of scrub typhus cases going up, the health department recently started a free testing facility in its Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme laboratory.
For now, 10 kits have been procured and more would be ordered if needed. According to the chief medical officer (CMO), Ghaziabad, Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar, 96 people can be tested with one kit.
Since January 1, the district has recorded 79 dengue, 10 malaria and 25 scrub typhus cases.
Private laboratories in the district charge around Rs 800 per test for scrub typhus. Meanwhile, under a 10-day special drive that started on Tuesday, about 300 fever patients are being detected daily, officials said.
These patients are being monitored by ASHA and Anganwadi workers and asked to get in touch with their nearest community health centre or primary health centre for examination.
The health department fever teams are surveying over one lakh households on a daily basis.
“In most cases, people have seasonal fever. Wherever a dengue or malaria case is being detected, we are surveying houses that lie within a radius of 100m of that household and conducting an anti-larvae drive in that locality. Along with this, we are also carrying out awareness drives for residents,” the CMO added.
The health department is preparing an area-wise list of all fever patients and sending reports to the government on a daily basis. Teams of doctors have been deputed to ensure that all patients get tested and take medicines.
In another development, on Sunday, a private laboratory in the district uploaded information on the official portal that stated five members of a family tested positive for Covid.
But later, it was found that their reports were negative. Since September 1, two Covid cases have been detected in the district, Dr RK Gupta, the district surveillance officer, said.