In Search of Work to India, Returned with Malaria— Infection Spreading in Sarlahi

Nepal Health News, Sarlahi: Malaria infection has been confirmed in 39 individuals who returned from India to Sarlahi. Manoj Kumar Jha, Vector Control Inspector at the Sarlahi Health Office, informed that 39 cases of malaria have been confirmed in the current fiscal year.

Jha stated that malaria has been found among people from municipalities like Balara, Lalbandi, Parsa, and Haripur who had returned after working as laborers in places such as Surat, Mumbai, and Delhi in India. “All 39 cases are imported from India,” said Jha. “While working in India, they experienced high fever and other symptoms, and after returning here and undergoing tests, they were diagnosed with malaria.”

According to Jha, the majority of cases have been seen in people returning from Surat, India. Among the 39 infected individuals found across the district, more than 20 are from Hathiyoul Jamuniya village, Balara Municipality–2, which borders India.

After falling ill in India and being unable to continue working, they returned and underwent health checkups at the Achalgadh Primary Health Center in Balara, where they tested positive for malaria. The most recent case was found a few days ago in a man from Lalbandi Municipality–2, Punarbas.

The man had returned after working as a laborer in Surat and was diagnosed with malaria after being tested at the Haripur Primary Health Center. Following his confirmation, 36 of his family members and neighbors who had come into contact with him were tested in the community on Friday.

None of the 36 people tested positive for malaria, according to Santosh Kumar Sah, head of the Basic Health Service Center in Punarbas. “All the reports came back negative when those in contact with the infected person were tested with the help of technicians from Malangwa, Haripur, and the municipality,” said Sah. “The infected patient, who is currently taking medication, is also in stable condition.”

According to health workers, when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a healthy person, the malaria parasite is transmitted, causing the disease. These mosquitoes are usually active at night.

Symptoms of malaria include headache, body aches, and nausea. The Sarlahi Health Office has urged people to protect themselves from mosquito bites and, if malaria is suspected, to get tested at public health laboratories available in all municipalities of the district.