Shahjahanpur: After Badaun and Bareilly, five patients suffering from the deadly plasmodium falciparum (PF) malaria have been identified in Shahjahanpur. Health department has confirmed five cases of PF and 10 cases of plasmodium vivax (PV) malaria till now.Considered the deadliest form, PF malaria can be fatal if treatment is delayed beyond 24 hours after onset of clinical symptoms. As per WHO, variable clinical features such as fever, chills, headaches, muscular aching and weakness, vomiting, coughing, diarrhoea and abdominal pain are seen in PF cases of malaria.What is also worrying the medical fraternity is that Shahjahanpur district is short of government doctors. The district has a total of just 65 doctors from different disciplines against the requirement of 164. The district hospital has two physicians but none at community health centres or primary health centres.According to CMO RP Rawat, “In order to cover the patients from rural areas of the district, we are organizing medical camps in every block, where we are distributing free medicines and informing locals about the precautions they need to take in case of viral fever. Five cases of plasmodium falciparum and around 10 cases of plasmodium vivax malaria have so far been detected in the district and we have alerted all doctors about it.”He added that fogging operations are also being conducted to provide protection against vector-borne diseases.On Sunday, a medical camp was organized at Khajri village in Kalaan block, where four locals succumbed to a mystery fever within a week. During tests, three patients were found to be suffering from PV malaria.More than 1,000 patients down with fever were tested for vector-borne diseases at the district hospital in Shahjahanpur city and five were diagnosed with PF malaria. Faculty members of Varun Arjun Medical College, a private institute, pitched in to help district hospital authorities.With more than 1,500 patients coming in every day at the district hospital’s emergency and outpatient department (OPD), all the beds are occupied. Additional beds have been arranged but all patients cannot be accommodated.

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