Mosquito-borne diseases in Kerala, India: An update

Abstract

Kerala, the south Indian state, has six mosquito-borne diseases, viz., Malaria, Dengue, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Wet Nile virus and Lymphatic Filariasis. In this paper the status and trend of the first five diseases from 2010 to 2019 have been reviewed. The data on mosquito-borne diseases in the state were collected from Directorate of Health Services, Government of Kerala, National Vector-borne Diseases Control Programme, Delhi and peer reviewed publications. Malaria showed a consistently downward trend from 2299 in 2010 to 656 in 2019. Dengue cases didn’t show any clear pattern but showed upward and downward trends throughout the review period. Data showed a major outbreak in 2017 with 21993 cases and 165 deaths. Chikungunya ranged from 54 to 210 without any mortality. Japanese encephalitis cases ranged from 0 to 102 and deaths from 0 to 8. West Nile virus was reported for the first time in 2011 with 33 cases