Burden of Malaria in India: Retrospective and Prospective View

Abstract

In India, nine Anopheline vectors are involved in transmitting malaria in diverse geo-ecological paradigms. About 2 million confirmed malaria cases and 1,000 deaths are reported annually, although 15 million cases and 20,000 deaths are estimated by WHO South East Asia Regional Office. India contributes 77% of the total malaria in Southeast Asia. Multi-organ involvement/dysfunction is reported in both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax cases. Most of the malaria burden is borne by economically productive ages. The states inhabited by ethnic tribes are entrenched with stable malaria, particularly P. falciparum with growing drug resistance. The profound impact of complicated malaria in pregnancy includes anemia, abortions, low birth weight in neonates, still births, and maternal mortality. Retrospective analysis of burden of malaria showed that disability adjusted life years lost due to malaria were 1.86 million years. Cost-benefit analysis suggests that each Rupee invested by the National Malaria Control Program pays a rich dividend of 19.7 Rupees.

Simple Molecular Methods for Early Detection of Chloroquine Drug Resistance in Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum

“…in vitro drug sensitivity testing: Antimalarial drug sensitivity testing was performed by invitro micro test (Mark III) according to Singh et al,[1] chloroquine drug sensitivity test was performed immediately after the collection of blood. The test was considered valid and interpretable if 10% of the parasites in the control well (drug free well) had developed into the schizonts after 24-36 hours incubation.…”

“…However, Southeast Asia contributed 2.5 million cases to the global burden of malaria. Of this, India alone contributed 76% of the total cases [1].…”

“…According to WHO approximatey 300-500 million malarial cases occur every year, i.e.,90% of the total cases occurring in Africa and Asia. A 700,000 to 2.7 million cases mortality occurr worldwide [1]. According to UNICEF a child dies at every minute from malaria in Africa [2].…”

Bednets, Information and Malaria in Orissa

“…Such monitoring systems often miss individuals who are parasitemic but asymptomatic because of acquired partial immunity (Vinetz and Gilman 2002). For a recent, broad overview of the malaria burden throughout India see also Kumar et al (2007). 9 In the same year, 214 malaria deaths were reported.…”

Prevalence, risk factors and treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria: the results of a case study from the Terai region of West Bengal, India

“…In India, although there has been some recent reduction in the incidence of malaria, the annual number of cases remains huge and represents more than three-quarters of the number occurring throughout South-east Asia (WHO, 2009). Malaria in India is concentrated in a few states and then mostly in pockets within the worst-affected states, with Orissa (25%), Chattisgarh (13%), West Bengal (11%), Jharkhand (7%) and Karnataka (7%) together accounting for the major share of the official malaria burden (Kumar et al, 2007). Much of the burden of malaria in India probably remains 'invisible', however, with the official estimates heavily reliant on government records of malaria-attributable deaths (Hay et al, 2010).…”