It is felt that atleast a good number of people belonging to
the new generation is familiar with the disease called Elephantiasis which
affects people’s legs and hands. This disease is spread by the mosquito called
Anopheles. In Kerala this disease was prevalent in almost all the districts;
however, till the 70s the most affected ones were that of Alappuzha, Kottayam,
Ernakulam and Kollam. During my childhood days in my native place oof Cherthala
which is in the district of Alappuzha a sizeable number of people were affected
by this disease. The main symptom of this disease is fever and swelling of the
limbs. Even after one is recovered fully from fever, the swelling on the limbs
will linger and it will increase day by day. In certain cases, the swelling may
develop in both the legs and in some other cases it may develop in both the
legs and even hands together. Those affected on both the legs will have severe
pain on their limbs and they will find it very difficult to move not to speak
of travelling in the bus or any such vehicle. During my child days of 50s out
of 6-7 people we meet on the road atleast 2 were seen to be affected with
Elephantiasis.
It is pertinent to mention here that Elephantiasis was
considered to be a disqualification and those who were affected with it both
boys and girls were not able to get suitable matches for the purpose of
getting married.
Viewing the spread of Elephantiasis at a fast pace among the
people oof the state, the Government had even set up a separate
anti-Elephantiasis Department exclusively to eradicate this disease. Due to the
continuous anti-Elephantiasis measures initiated over a period of more than 30
years or so, the government claimed that this disease could be eradicated completely.
Subsequently, the department which spearheaded the anti-Elephantasis works in
the state of Kerala was disbanded by the government. Inspite of the said claim
made by the government the disease had raised its ugly head once again first in
the district of Alappuzha much to the consternation of the government.. Kottayam district followed suit where during
2012 many places had witnessed spread of
this disease warranting initiation of preventive measures. Needless to
state, this exposed the hollowness
of the claim made by the government..
As mentioned above, even though this disease was mainly
prevalent in the districts of Alappuzha,
Kottayam, Ernakulam land Kollam, through the state native
place of Cherthala was somehow considered as the centre of Elephantiasis
for reasons not known.
It is wellknown that once a person gets affected by this
disease there is no way that he/she could get rid of the same as there is no
cure for the same. It is apt to make a mention here that the former speaker of
Kerala Assembly and Congress leader Sri Alexander Parambithara had gone abroad
and undergone an operation to get it cut but without any discernible relief
from the disease.
It was also common that when a person mentions that he
belongs to Cherthala, then people used to look at the leg of the person hailing
from Cherthala to find out whether he has got Elephantiasis or not. In this
connection my own experience is worth citing here . That had happened when I
went to see the girl prior to getting
married in the adjacent district of Kottayam. While I was busy talking to the
girl I was proposing to marry, all eyes of those present including girl’s
mother and other relations were on my legs to ensure that I am not having
Elephantiasis being a native of Cherthala which was known to be the centre of Elephantiasis disease.
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