Division of Parasitic Diseases

Name of Technical Division: Department of Parasitic Diseases

Full mailing Address:       Department of Parasitic Diseases, NCDC, 22, Shamnath Marg,Delhi-110054

Head of the Division:         Dr. C. S. Aggarwal

                 Additional Director & HOD

                 Tel No.(Off) 011-23913028

                 E-mail: csaggarwal[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]in

Officers in the Division:

Dr. Ananya Ray Laskar,  Deputy Director

Dr. Vinay Kumar Garg,  Deputy Director 

Dr. Ankur Garg,  Assistant Director 

Tel No.(Off): 011-23913028

E-mail: dpdncdc[at]gmail[dot]com

 Units within the Division:

NCDC Branches under the Division:

• Kozhikode  Branch, National Centre for Disease Control, Kerala (formerly RFT&RC, Kozhikode)
• Rajahmundry Branch, National Centre for Disease Control, Andhra Pradesh (formerly RFT&RC Rajahmundry)
• Varanasi Branch, National Centre for Disease Control, Uttar Pradesh (formerly RFT&RC Varanasi)

Broad outline of activities of the Division:

The department of Parasitic Diseases is the nodal agency for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Yaws Eradication Programme (YEP) and Guinea Worm Eradication Programme (GWEP) in the country. The department is also the national nodal agency for prevention and control of Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) in the country and undertakes countrywide surveys to map prevalence and intensity of STH in school children. It also undertakes surveys, manpower development and research activities to support National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) for elimination of lymphatic filariasis. The department also provides training material on diseases being looked after by the department.

Unit wise broad activities:

 A) Yaws Eradication Programme:

• Yaws Eradication Programme (YEP) was launched as a centrally sponsored scheme in 1996-97 in Koraput district of Orissa, which was subsequently expanded to cover all the 11 endemic states(Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam and Gujarat, Telangana) during 9^th Plan period.

• Elimination of Yaws was declared by Honorable HFM on 19 September 2006

In post elimination phase, apart from ongoing activities three new activities were started:    

• Sero-survey among children to assess cessation of transmission of infection for 3-5 years
• Rumor reporting
• Cash incentive scheme to encourage voluntary reporting of the cases by the community.

WHO declared India free of Yaws on 5 May, 2016 & formal announcement of the same was made by Honorable HFM on 14^th July, 2016   

• India is the first WHO member country to achieve this milestone.
• Routine surveillance and IEC is being continued till global eradication is achieved.

 B) Guinea Worm Eradication Programme:

• World Health Organization certified India as guinea worm disease free country in February, 2000.
• However, routine surveillance and IEC is continuing till global eradication of the disease is achieved.
• No case has been reported so far.

 C) Filariasis:

• Govt. of India launched the National Filaria Control Programme in India.  The operational components are implemented by the Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control programme while the Research and Training of man-power is being undertaken by the National Centre for Disease Control.
• National Centre for Disease Control imparts 10 days and 5 days   training courses at its branches Rajahmundry, Kozhikode and Varanasi for technical staff and officers involved in the control of lymphatic filariasis.
• NCDC branches also support the state health departments in their filaria control efforts.

D) Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH)

• Since 1963, NCDC has been conducting STH surveys in different parts of the country.
• From 1999, WHO sampling methodologies and Kato-Katz technique have been adopted for stool sample examination and surveys have been conducted in different ecological zones in the country.
• NCDC has recently finished the countrywide mapping of the STH prevalence and Intensity among school children.
• This country wide STH survey would support the National Deworming Day activities and help in monitoring the effect of de-worming in school children and to find out the appropriate effective interval of de-worming.

Training Programmes:

  Two types of trainings on filariology are being conducted through the NCDC branches at Kozhikode, Rajahmundry and Varanasi

• Training course on Filariology for Filaria Inspectors/ Technicians (duration 10- Days)
• Training course on Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination for MO’s/ Biologists/Dist. Prog. Officers (duration 5-Days)

Major Achievements:

• NCDC has completed country wide mapping of prevalence and intensity of Soil Transmitted Helminths infection among school children
• India became the first WHO member country to be declared free of Yaws in the year 2016
• India was certified as Guinea Worm disease free country in the year 2000
• NCDC has successfully trained many medical personnel across the country in Filariology.

Research Projects undertaken:

• Assessment of Albendazole efficacy against Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) at three sites of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Kerala

Publications: 2015-2017

A) Articles:

i) Garg V, Jain SK, Jogdand S, Dwivedi A, Vijayananth P, Bhagat H, Venkatesh S.Prevalence of STH Infection among School Going Children in Delhi: Study of Contributing Factors in Varied Demographic Settings. J. Commun. Dis.  2015; 47(3):13-18.

ii) Jain SK, Dwivedi A, Shrivastava A, Vijayananth P, Vidyavardhini R, Venkatesh S. Prevalence of Soil-Transmitted Helminthic Infection in India in Current Scenario: A Systematic Review. J. Commun. Dis. 2016;48(2):24-35.

iii) Jain SK, Thomas TG, Bora D, Venkatesh S. Eradicating Yaws from India: A Summary. J. Commun. Dis. 2014;46(3):1-9.

iv) Regu K, Rajendran R, Showkath MK, Mohanan MK, Tamizharasu W,Ravindranath VM, Thomas TG, Jain SK, Venkatesh S. Current Status of Bancroftian Filariasis in Palakkad District, Kerala. J. Commun. Dis. 2016; 48(4): 21-5.

v) Narain JP, Jain SK, Bora D, Venkatesh S. Eradicating successfully yaws from India: The strategy & global lessons. Indian J Med Res. 2015; 141(5): 08–13.

B) Books:

Yaws Disease: End of Scourge in India. Eds. Jain SK, Dikid T, Garg V, Jain  S, Venkatesh S. 2016