Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Dec;33(1-2):13-22.
doi: 10.1007/s12639-009-0002-7. Epub 2010 Feb 27.

Malaria transmission and disease burden in Assam: challenges and opportunities

V Dev  1 , V P Sharma, D Hojai
Affiliations

Malaria transmission and disease burden in Assam: challenges and opportunities

V Dev et al. J Parasit Dis. 2009 Dec.

Abstract

Malaria is major public health illness in Assam and 30-40% of the population is estimated to be at high-risk. Despite decades of attempted control interventions, malaria transmission is perennial and persistent in most parts of the state mostly transmitted by Anopheles minimus. Malaria outbreaks are returning associated with high rise in Plasmodium falciparum and attributable death cases. Therapeutic efficacy investigations for treatment of malaria revealed that chloroquine resistance was widespread for which artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is being instituted in the control program. For data based on the preceding years, we briefly reviewed the available information on transmission dynamics, vector biology and control, drug policy, and discuss the challenges and opportunities for strengthening interventions for malaria control to help design situation specific strategies to check impending disease outbreaks with special reference to Assam. Under increased assistance from external agencies, we strongly advocate scaling up interventions based on mass distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) for prevention and ACTs for treatment of drug-resistant malaria, and developing strong health delivery system in high-risk areas for meeting the complex emergencies and achieving transmission reduction.

Keywords: Anopheles minimus; Assam; Drug-resistance; Malaria control; Morbidity and mortality; Northeast India; P. falciparum.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Asthana O.P., Srivastava J.S., Kamboj V.P., Valecha N., Sharma V.P., Gupta S., Pande T.K., Viswanathan K.A., Mohapatra K.M., Nayak N.C., Mahapatra P.K., Mahanta J., Srivastava V.K., Dev V., Singh N., Shukla M.M., Balsara A.B., Mishra S.K., Satpathy S.K., Mohanty S., Dash B. A multicentric study with Arteether in patients of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. J Assoc Physicians India, (JAPI) 2001;49:692–696. - PubMed
    1. Beier J.C., Keating J., Githure J.I., Macdonald M.B., Impoinvil D.E., Novak R.J. Integrated vector management for malaria control. Malar J. 2008;7(Suppl1):S4. doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-7-S1-S4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dev V. Integrated disease vector control of malaria: a success story based in Assam, northeastern India. ICMR Bulletin. 2009;39:21–28.
    1. Dev V., Bhattacharyya P.C., Talukdar R. Transmission of malaria and its control in the Northeastern Region of India. J Assoc Physicians India. 2003;51:1073–1076. - PubMed
    1. Dev V, Biswas S, Joshi H, Prajapati SK, Valecha N, Dash AP (2009) Safety and efficacy of artesunate+sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in the treatment of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in northeast India. Parassitologia, (in press)

LinkOut - more resources