Online gaming is making young people expose themselves to mosquitoes more and this is having a knock on effect on the state’s malaria figures.
Eight people died of malaria in 2023, an increase on the three who died of the disease in 2021. All the eight were under 30 years old, an age group that would be expected to have better chances of fighting off the illness.
Incidence of the mosquito-borne disease has fallen in the state from nearly 50,000 cases in 2015 thanks to malaria control programmes.
The Health and Family Welfare Department has a theory, however, as to how and why the figures of infection are persistent among otherwise healthy teenagers and adults.
Mobile gaming appears to be the problem. A senior official explained that young people in rural areas often congregate in public spaces under trees for the best internet signal, play games in the evenings after school or work, often wear shorts in the hot weather and are so engrossed in their mobile phones that they do not do enough to shield themselves from mosquito bites. The officer saw this in person while on a tour of places like Riangdo, Shallang and in Garo Hills.
Another factor is that while the older generation has a fear of malaria, the disease has become tackled so effectively in recent years that the younger generation is not as bothered about taking precautions and getting treatment after developing symptoms. Rising temperatures are also making the climate more favourable for mosquitos to live and breed in more and more of Meghalaya.
Even the mosquitos themselves are changing and evolving, the official said. In the past, they would typically bite for 8 to 12 seconds but now this has more than doubled to between 20 and 25 seconds, giving a greater chance for more of the Plasmodium parasite that is transferred through the bite of a mosquito into humans and other vertebrates.
Although the number of deaths due to the disease is still low notwithstanding the increase, the Health Department is concerned. It has been tasked with providing bed nets and ensuring that Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) have test kits and medicines.
The department has also changed its strategy to spread awareness about malaria, having decided to use social media influencers to try and get the youth to pay more attention to the disease. Spraying of insecticides, like DDT, is not popular among Meghalaya farmers due to fears that it causes crop damage.
