Recent epidemiological status of malaria in Calcutta Municipal Corporation area, West Bengal

In Calcutta, Plasmodium falciparum cases and death due to malaria show remarkably increasing trend since 1990. The incidence of P. falciparum malaria has increased more than eleven folds in 1996 in comparison to 1990, with 0, 0, 0, 3, 7, 52 and 17 deaths in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996 respectively. Situation is more serious than what it is projected in official records as annual blood examination rate (ABER) in Calcutta Municipal area is poor, varying from 1.5 to 3.9 in 1993 and 1996 respectively. This is further evident from the fact that in a study area in 19 months (January 1995 to July 1996) the slide positivity rate (SPR) was 47.94% on an average 28.72% suffer from P. falciparum infection (as low as 0.5% in June 1996 and as high as 71.5% in November 1996). For the first time resistance of P. falciparum to chloroquine has been noted at RII and RIII level. The response of the same parasite strain to sulfa-pyrimethamine combination drug is very much promising. Fresh infection is occurring in all the months of the year and the favourable period is from July to November 1995 that is corroborating with Container index and Breteau index related to the vector mosquito Anopheles. Susceptibility status of An. stephensi indicates that the mosquito species has acquired resistance to DDT, BHC, propoxure and malathion but is still susceptible to fenthion and deltamethrin.