Altered Trends In Malaria Infected Areas: Experience From A Tertiary Care Hospital, Delhi

In the present study we report a sudden increase in the number of cases as well as those presenting with complications due to P. vivax over a period of four years. The current hospital based cross sectional study included suspected cases of malaria diagnosed by peripheral blood smear examination, and antigen detection in between years 2008-2011.There was marked increase in the number of malaria cases in 2011 as compared to previous years. The number of pediatric patients in 2011 was more than 6 times of that seen in 2010. The under 5-year population appears to be especially afflicted with the disease. Almost 1/3 rd of these patients presented with hemorrhagic manifestations. P. vivax caused all these cases of complicated malaria. This sudden change calls for further investigations to know the reason behind this shift.