The state health department has sent an alert on Thursday to districts about kala-azar after a man who was diagnosed with the disease died at the School of Tropical Medicine on Wednesday.
Avadesh Paswan, 47, was found to be suffering from kala-azar, said an official at the government hospital. Paswan, a resident of Bihar, fell ill during his visit to his in-laws’ house in Howrah.
“He was suffering from fever,” the official said.
Paswan was admitted to Howrah District Hospital, from where he was shifted to a private hospital in Kolkata as his fever was not subsiding. He was finally admitted to the School of Tropical Medicine.
“We have asked the chief medical officers of health in the districts to strengthen vigil. The districts from where cases of kala-azar had earlier been reported include Darjeeling, Malda, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Kalimpong,” said a health department official.
Kolkata has not recorded any case in last several years.
In keeping with the guidelines laid down by the National Kala-azar Elimination Programme, under the Union ministry of health, the chief medical officers of health in the districts have been asked to ensure early detection of cases and their management in accordance with the protocol.
The WHO says visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, can be fatal in over 95 per cent of the cases if it is not treated. The symptoms include irregular bouts of fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anaemia.
Kala-azar is caused by protozoan parasites that are transmitted by the bites of infected female phlebotomine sandflies.
“We are in the stage of eradicating the disease.... There are some districts in north Bengal and a few in the south that are under the scanner for the prevalence of kala-azar,” said an official at Sasthya Bhavan, the headquarters of the state health department.
“We are focussing on early detection of kala-azar cases and bringing the patients under treatment.”
Doctors and health staff in the districts have been told to watch out for certain symptoms in patients.
These include:
- Fever for more than two weeks
- Enlarged spleen
- Liver not responding to anti-malaria drugs
- Anaemia
“Patients with these symptoms should be screened with a rapid diagnostic test. If found positive for kala-azar, the patient should be treated with an effective drug,” the health department official said.
“If the rapid test is negative but the doctor still suspects kala-azar, a bone marrow test should be advised.”