Context:

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan asked the Delhi government to make malaria and dengue notifiable diseases.

What is Notifiable Disease?

• A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities.
• The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks.
• The World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations, 1969 require disease reporting to the WHO in order to help with its global surveillance and advisory role.

Significance of Notifying Disease:

• Making a disease legally notifiable by doctors and health professionals allows for intervention to control the spread of highly infectious diseases.
• Registered medical practitioners need to notify such diseases in a proper form within three days, or notify verbally via phone within 24 hours depending on the urgency of the situation.
• This means every government hospital, private hospital, laboratories, and clinics will have to report cases of the disease to the government.
• The process helps the government keep track and formulate a plan for elimination and control.
• In less infectious conditions, it improves information about the burden and distribution of disease.

Other Notified Diseases:

• The Centre has notified several diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, encephalitis, leprosy, meningitis, pertussis (whooping cough), plague, tuberculosis, AIDS, hepatitis, measles, yellow fever, malaria dengue, etc.

Concern:

• The onus of notifying any disease and the implementation lies with the state government.
• Any failure to report a notifiable disease is a criminal offence and the state government can take necessary actions against defaulters.

About Malaria:

• It is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites belonging to the Plasmodium genus, which are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. The mosquito-borne blood disease is preventable and curable.
• Plasmodium parasite infects a variety of species and different types of Plasmodium genus replicate at different rates, changing how quickly the symptoms escalate, and the severity of the disease.

Causes of Malaria:

There are many factors that can cause malaria, such as:

• Bitten by a malarial vector (Anopheles stephensi)
• Use of shared and infected syringes.
• Organ transplantation.
• Transfusion.
• From an infected mother to her baby during birth.
• It is caused by the parasites –
  • Plasmodium viviax (P.vivax)
  • Plasmodium falciparum (P.falciparum)
  • Plasmodium malariae (P.malariae)
  • Plasmodium ovale (P.ovale)

Symptoms of Malaria:

Symptoms of malaria are exhibited within 7 to 18 days of being infected. Common symptoms include:

• Fever, fatigue, chills, vomiting, and headaches
• Diarrhoea, anaemia and muscle pain
• Profuse sweating and convulsions
• Bloody stools.
• In severe cases, malaria can be devastating; it can lead to seizures, coma and eventually, death.

Vaccine:

• The RTS,S vaccine is the first, and to date, the only, vaccine that has demonstrated that it could significantly reduce malaria in children.
• RTS,S is a scientific name given to this malaria vaccine candidate and represents its composition.
• It aims to trigger the immune system to defend against the first stages of malaria.
• This is when the parasite enters the human host’s bloodstream through a mosquito bite and infects liver cells.
• The vaccine is designed to prevent the parasite from infecting the liver.
• The vaccine has been developed by GSK (former GlaxoSmithKline), which is donating about 10 million doses of the product for the pilot.
• It was created in 1987 by GSK, and was subsequently developed with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• In clinical trials, the vaccine was found to prevent approximately 4 in 10 malaria cases, including 3 in 10 cases of life-threatening severe malaria.