Kala-azar survey to be conducted in 57 villages... Darjeeling health dept to launch survey on black fever

SNS, Siliguri, 13 November 2014: The Darjeeling district health department is set to launch an extensive survey on kala-azar (black fever) in 57 villages under three blocks of Siliguri sub-division from 24 November.

Under the programme, health workers will visit houses in villages to enquire about the patients. Two entomologists of the state health department visited some areas as part of the programme yesterday and today.
"The programme is under a mission to eliminate kala-azar within 2015. In the first stage, health workers will visit houses in villages of Phansidea, Kharibari and Naxalbari. If a person is suffering from fever for more than 15 days, she will be taken to a health sub-centre for detection of the disease through blood tests and other examinations, and if the results are positive, the person would be administered with the liposomal amphotericin B injection in hospitals,” said the district chief medical officer of health, Dr Asit Biswas.
“The injection is costly, but it will be administered on patients free of cost," he added. The survey is expected to continue till 3 December.
"Health workers will note down the names of the patients suffering from this during the survey.
“ If more than three patients are found in a village, then the adjacent villages would be brought under surveillance too," Mr Biswas said.
Of the 57 villages, 29 fall under the Pahnsidewa block, 18 in Kharibari, while 10 in the Naxalbari block, all of them areas where the disease is prevalent.
Kala-azar is caused by a parasite which is transmitted to the human body through the bite of the sand fly.
Health officials said that in Munni village of Phansidewa, where the disease was detected in 128 persons in 2012, the number has come down to 11 this year.