Is Malaria Fatal?

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QUESTION

Can you die from malaria?

ANSWER

Yes. If left untreated, certain types of malaria in particular can cause severe complications, and can even lead to death. Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous form of malaria and is responsible for 90% of the approximately 700,000 annual deaths caused by malaria.

However, P. vivax infections can also be very serious, and more recently, cases of P. knowlesi in south-east Asia have been shown to develop into severe disease very rapidly, thus making it dangerous for people who are not close to health care services and thus delay getting treatment.

The people most at risk from severe malaria are children under the age of five and pregnant women, as well as travellers to malarial areas who are not taking adequate preventative measures (such as not taking anti-malaria medication or not sleeping under a long-lasting insecticide treated bednet).

However, malaria is still dangerous to all people, so if you think you might be infected, it is crucial to seek out diagnosis immediately, so that you can be quickly given appropriate treatment. If diagnosed early, malaria is usually very easily treated and full recovery occurs quickly.

Malaria Statistics for Rwanda

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QUESTION:

What are the malaria statistics in Rwanda?

ANSWER:

The following statistics are taken from the World Health Organisation (www.who.org):

  • Approximately 90% of Rwandans are at risk of malaria.
  • Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Rwanda responsible for up to 50% of all outpatient visits.
  • In 2005, Rwanda reported 991 612 malaria cases.
  • In 2006, malaria was responsible for 37% of outpatient consultations and 41% of hospital deaths, of which 42% were children under five.

Pf Malaria Mortality Statistics

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QUESTION:

What are the number of deaths in malaria pf case?

ANSWER:

“pf” stands for malaria that is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum. It is the most severe form, and responsible for the most number of deaths globally. It is estimated that around 700,000 people died last year from malaria; of these, approximately 90% would have been due to Pf malaria.

 

Malaria Survey in Mumbai, India

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QUESTION:

I want the past year’s malaria survey in Mumbai and other states.

ANSWER:

The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, recently published an article summarising the mortality of malaria in India. The citation for the article is as follows:

Dhingra, Jha, Sharma, Cohen, Jotkar, Rodriguez, Bassani, Suraweera, Laxminarayan and Peto (2010), ‘Adult and child mortality in India: a nationally representative mortality survey’, The Lancet, 376: 1768-1774.

A slightly older article (from 2007) discusses the burden of malaria in India:

Kumar, Valecha, Jain and Dash (2007), ‘Burden of malaria in India: A retrospective and prospective view’, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 77: 69-78.

Malaria Cases in West Bengal

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QUESTION:

What is the number of Malaria patients in West Bengal?

ANSWER:

West Bengal is one of the states considered highly endemic for malaria in India. In 1998, cases in West Bengal comprised approximately 6% of the total number of cases of all malaria in India (corresponding to 129,000 of the total 2.15 million cases reported that year), and approximately 3% of the cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the most acute and deadly form of the disease. However, more recently, there are encouraging signs of decreasing mortality from malaria in West Bengal; in 2007, the number of reported deaths from malaria was 100, down from 203 in 2006 (the total number of cases in 2007 was estimated at 86,132).