Bangalore, DHNS: Instances of chikungunya continued to spiral in Bangalore City with over 260 suspected cases of the disease being reported since June 14 at K C General Hospital and Sriramapura Referral Hospital. About 36 fresh cases were reported on Wednesday. Most patients affected by the vector-borne disease were from Sriramapura, Ramchandrapura, Prakashnagar, Nagappa Garden, RC Pura, Bhashyam Nagar, Yeshwantpur and Malleswaram.

According to a two-year study conducted by doctors of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, both during the monsoons and the non-monsoon period, men between 15-40 years of age were found to be more prone to malaria.

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (GBL), a biotech company in Pune and a subsidiary of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd has tied up with PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) for a dedicated malaria vaccine manufacturing facility at Hinjewadi. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar will inaugurate the malaria vaccine manufacturing facility and oncology plant on Saturday.

The first case of dengue this season was reported from the Karol Bagh area today. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) staff spent almost the entire day in sanitising the area. The MCD has claimed that it was prepared to handle the situation. The administration has even started implementing measures to prevent the further onslaught of the virus. The MCD team reached the Karol Bagh area and instructed its staff to clean the surroundings, which painted a sad picture of overflowing sewage and filth on roads.

Plasmodium vivax, a strain of malaria thought to be mild and non-life-threatening is potentially fatal, according to a new study. Two malaria strains, P. vivax and P. falciparum, affect humans. The latter, the dominant strain in Africa, is considered to be more virulent and deadlier. But P. vivax accounts for 400 million cases every year in Asia, with about 300 cases reported annually in patients returning to Australia from malaria endemic countries. In Indonesia, the parasite has developed resistance to standard treatments.

THE resurgence of malaria in some Asian and African countries has become a matter of concern for governments and doctors, as the disease and the mosquitoes that carry it are increasingly developing resistance to the traditional methods of control. Reports from Brazil and South-East Asia, in particular, show that insecticides like DDT no longer work, and some of the bacteria which mosquitoes inject into the patients' blood have become immune to drugs like chloroquine. So the number of deaths and debilitations caused by malaria has been on the rise in some third world countries.

NEW DELHI: Delhi's Deputy Mayor Divya Jaiswal inaugurated an "Anti-malaria and dengue programme' at Rohtash Nagar here on Tuesday. "The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has formulated an action plan for prevention of dengue which is being implemented on a war footing now,' he said.

The health department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has drawn up an ambitious plan to combat emergencies during the monsoon. Setting up a control room in Kasturba Hospital at Chinchpokli for uniform diagnosis, investigation and treatment of ailments. The civic body has also called for extra provision of drugs, said Shubhada Gudekar, chairperson of the Public Health Committee.

Danish and US researchers said on Tuesday they have found a way to way to attack malaria by knocking out a gene that helps malaria parasites reproduce inside mosquitoes. The gene