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Harsukh Educational Charitable Society International Journal of Community Health and Medical Research

Volume 4 Issue 1 January -March 2018

Original Articles

Clinical Profile Of Fever Cases For Malarial Infection In A Non-Malarious Region Of Himachal Pradesh
Sudhir Singh, S.R. Mazta, Anil Kanga , Anupam Parashar, Amit Sachdeva, Deepesh Barall

Background: Malaria is a major public health problem in India though it is both a preventable and treatable disease. Temperature, precipitation, and vegetation have changed rapidly in the Himalayas as part of global climate change leading to vector species spreading into new breeding habitats in high elevations. Aims and Objectives: To study clinical profile of fever patients among the tribes of Kinnaur and to screen for malaria among the fever cases. Material And Methods: This Cross-sectional observational study was conducted at three health facilities namely CHC Baba-Nagar, PHC Tapri, Sub-Centre Chaura of Nichar block in district Kinnaur of Himachal Pradesh from July, 2016 to August, 2017. The study included all patients who presented with febrile illness to the OPD of these institutions. Demographic and clinical data were collected through pretested and semi-structured questionnaire. Blood samples were collected from the febrile patients for RDT, Smear and routine investigations. Data was entered in the excel sheet and analysed using statistical software Epi Info version 7. Results: A total of 445 patients of febrile illnesses were screened, out of which 405 were enrolled. Mean age of the patients was 37.00± 14.87 years. Majority of the patients were females , had gone to primary school , belonged to schedule tribe, was in clerical job/shop man/farm owner , belong to Hindus religion and above poverty line. Nearly three fourth of the patients presented with continuous fever for less than 7 days..Nausea and vomiting was the most common complaint. Most of the patients had no history of travel outside the study area. All of the patients were found negative for malaria in rapid diagnostic test as well as in blood smear for malarial parasite test .Nearly one third of the patients were diagnosed as having URTI and 9.9% of the patients were diagnosed as having tuberculosis. Conclusion: High level of suspicion is warranted for patients presenting with fever, while at high altitude or after returning from a high altitude areas, when travel or transit included exposure to malaria zones. Key words: Malaria, climate change , high altitude ,Himachal Pradesh 

 
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