It has always been considered the common or garden variety of Malaria, one that causes relapses,but can't kill you. The organism Plasmodium Vivax, spread by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, is responsible for around a million cases of malaria in India each year, but not a single death. Now, two deaths in Goa have changed all that. Vivax, the most common strain of malarial parasite found in India, may be beginning to turn into a killer like its variant, Plasmodium Falciparum, scientists fear. This would have devastating consequences in terms of the country's strategy to combat the disease. A team of experts from the Union Health Ministry, which was investigating two recent cases of deaths resulting from Malaria in Goa has confirmed that both cases were of Vivax Malaria. As it happens, 90 per cent of deaths from malaria in India (around 800 to 1,000 people die from Malaria nationwide each year) are caused by the Falciparum strain, which is the most dangerous of the four types of malarial parasites found in India, and which has been making rapid advances in Goa. The reason for concern is the implications of this new phenomenon. What the experts were checking to see is if the deaths were caused by co-infection, which means the victim is infected by more than one strain of Malarial parasite. But neither of the cases showed evidence of co-infection. This means that both deaths were caused by Vivax Malaria alone. For the Director of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme G P S Dhillon, this presents a troubling prognosis. Vivax Malaria has been recorded as having rarely caused severe complications, including cerebral Malaria and jaundice. Some strains of the parasite are resistant to the usual anti-Malarial drugs, so stronger treatment has to be used. It can cause relapses. But never before this has Vivax Malaria caused a death. The issue assumes importance not only because of the health implications. There's a financial angle to it too. The Malaria Vaccine Initiative, an international NGO, estimates that India spends nearly half its health budget on malaria control programmes. If what killed those two patients in Goa is a lethal type of Vivax parasite, it has every chance of spreading to other parts of the country. Potentially, this could cause healthcare costs in India to go through the roof. That is why the scientists are now pinning their hopes on the possibility that these deaths fron Vivax Malaria may have more to do with the patients, than with the disease. They are checking to see if the organ failure and cerebral malaria that led to their deaths was actually caused by some other reason, possibly a weak immune system that caused the Vivax parasite to behave more virulently. At present, we believe, clinical studies are on to look into this possibility. Senior scientists at the National Institute of Malaria Research are part of the investigating team. One must not jump to conclusions in cases like this, but what if no other explanation emerges, and it turns out that the Vivax parasite can mutate into a far more dangerous version of itself, and cause deaths? This means Goa, could be giving the nation a new form of killer Malaria. Goa's builders, whose unfinished structures are primarily responsible for the rapid spread of the disease in the state, will then have given the entire country a new scourge.