mangalore to those who forgot the dreaded malaria in 1999 due to the onset of rat fever it came back with a vengeance this year one death due to malaria was confirmed in the dakshina kannada district and according to kaup mla vasanth salian three alleged deaths took place in his constituency due to malaria recently malaria which claimed as many as 26 lives in 1995 unconfirmed figures are above 150 has been no longer synonymous with monsoons in the dakshina kannada district the monsoons provide the necessary breeding ground for the mosquitoes and the its aftereffects are seen throughout the year this year more than 600 malaria cases have been reported in the past three months but the malaria office here only confirmed 250 up to november 22 praveen kumar district health officer dho says that the cases may be more as of the 58 nursing homes and hospitals in the city only a handful provided them actual figures it is ironic that though malaria is a notifiable disease nursing homes and hospitals feign ignorance that they are not aware of such an order this year almost 2162 cases of malaria have been reported since the beginning of the year till november this is marginally less than cases reported last year in the same corresponding time which stood at 3814 this offers no solace to the health office as last year no deaths were reported kumar averred that the cases may be more due to the unseasonal rains which had lashed the city till october the dho squarely blames the mangalore city corporation mcc and the nursing homes in the city for the sad situation he said while the mcc did not cooperate with them by providing concrete tanks for breeding guppy fishes in selected areas the nursing homes did not provide information on the cases and malariarelated deaths one more problem area is the nursing homes abandoned ed js stain test or smear slide preparation after the advent of quantitative buffy coat qbc or fluorescent technique currently adopted without slides it is difficult for the malaria investigating officer to ascertain the actual cause of death though slide technique costs rs 050 paisa the nursing homes go in for fluorescent tests as it is more profitable and less cumbersome another reason for the increase in malaria cases is the non functioning of the malaria control action committee mcac which came into existence in 1995 when the incidence of the disease reached epidemic proportions the committee was formed by some doctors and the public realising the need to take the matter into their own hands than relying on the government machinery the mcac encouraged to form ward committees and went to houses in their respective areas educating the public to keep their surroundings clean to combat malaria doctors say apart from the above reasons lack of civic awareness in the city which provides a healthy breeding ground for malarial mosquitoes contributed to the sad state of affairs the increase in