Update on Malaria
2022-04-04
Key facts about Malaria
- Malaria is a CATEGORY 1 NOTIFIABLE CONDITION according to the National Department of Health's (NDOH)Notifiable Medical Conditions (NMC) list.
- This is a medical condition that requires reporting by the most rapid means available upon diagnosis, followed by a written or electronic notification to the Department of Health within 24 hours of diagnosis by healthcare providers, private health laboratories or public health laboratories.
- Malaria is seasonal in South Africa, where the highest risk of malaria transmission occurs in the wet summer months (September to May).
- Malaria vector mosquitoes generally bite between dusk and dawn.
- Only female mosquitoes are associated with malaria transmission.
- Male mosquitoes DO NOT blood feed and play no role in the malaria transmission cycle.
- Three Plasmodium falciparum Anopheles vectors are associated with human transmission of malaria:
- Anopheles gambiae
- An. funestus
- An. arabiensis
- Sub-Saharan Africa and India carry -85% of the global malaria burden.
- Plasmodium falciparum is the most prevalent parasitic infection in the WHO Africa region.
- One child dies every minute from malaria in Africa.
- Malaria immunity is rapidly lost in the absence of exposure to malaria.
- Non-immune travellers are at higher risk for severe malaria.
- Emergence of antimalarial drug and insecticide resistance threatens control and elimination efforts.
What CHEMOPROPHYLAXIS is available in South Africa for Malaria?*
The choice of prophylaxis should be tailored to the individual.
Treatment Guidelines
CLINICAL FEATURES:
Mild symptoms, ambulant, normal mental function, no repeated vomiting, no jaundice, no other features of severe malaria