Jamshedpur: Malaria cases continued to surge in East Singhbhum despite intensified surveillance, with the district reporting 101 fresh infections on Thursday, and the death toll reaching six.The health department conducted 11,096 malaria tests across the district’s nine blocks, the urban areas of Mango and Birsanagar, and Sadar Hospital. Of those screened, 101 tested positive, including 67 Plasmodium falciparum (PF) cases, 31 Plasmodium vivax (PV) cases and three mixed infections. PF is associated with cerebral malaria, the more severe form of the disease.Health officials said five-year-old Rakhi Sardar of Potka, who was undergoing treatment for a PF infection at MGM Medical College and Hospital, died on Wednesday evening. She had been admitted on July 5 with a high fever.Between June 29 and July 9, the district conducted 63,570 malaria tests and detected 1,603 positive cases, including 1,268 PF cases, 295 PV cases and 40 mixed infections.Deputy commissioner Rajiv Ranjan has directed health officials to complete one lakh malaria screenings by July 12.
