Malaria in Africa

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QUESTION

How many in Africa have been affected by Malaria?

ANSWER

In 2010, there were approximately 174 million cases of malaria in Africa. However, some people may present with more than one case of malaria per year (especially young children), so the number of people affected is likely considerably lower. However, 90% of deaths from malaria occur in Africa, and 60% in just six countries: Nigeria, DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali. The good news is that malaria mortality has dropped by 33% in Africa since 2000, which is a very encouraging trend, though the aim of organizations such as Malaria No More is to fully eliminate deaths from malaria globally by 2015.

Malaria Statistics 2008-2012

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QUESTION

What are the malaria statistics for 2008-2012?

ANSWER

Without more information, I am assuming you would like statistics on malaria cases and deaths for 2008-2012. The best data on malaria comes from the World Health Organization, which retrospectively publishes its best estimated for malaria in its annual World Malaria Reports. Each report publishes the figures from the previous year, and the 2012 report has not yet been published, so at this point the WHO can only provide data for 2008-2010. It is also worth mentioning that as more information is collected, past estimates can sometimes be revised, but here I will present the figures from each annual report itself, rather than longer retrospective estimates.

In 2008, the number of cases was estimated at 243 million, with 863,000 deaths. In 2009, the report did not explicitly summarize the number of cases, but reported that deaths were down to approximately 781,000. In 2010, the number of cases and deaths both dropped yet further, to an estimated 216 million cases and 655,000 deaths. Despite these gains, the aim is to work towards a world with no malaria deaths at all by the year 2015, so much control work remains to be done.

Vaccine for malaria? Differences with yellow fever?

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QUESTION

Is there a vaccine to prevent malaria?
What is the difference between yellow fever and malaria?

ANSWER

In answer to your first question, no, there is not currently a vaccine available to prevent malaria. The best current candidate, the RTS,S vaccine which was developed by GlaxoSmithKline, is currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials in Africa. Although preliminary results showed up to a 50% rate of protection against malaria in some age groups, the trials will not conclude until 2014 and so full results will not be known until after that date.

As for your second question, while yellow fever and malaria are both transmitted by mosquitoes, they share few other similarities. Yellow fever is caused by a virus, for example, whereas malaria is caused by a single-celled parasite of the genus Plasmodium. The group of organisms that Plasmodium belongs to is often called “Protista” (the exact grouping and classification constantly changes!), and they more generally belong, based on cell type, to the Eukaryotes, an enormous group of organisms which also includes all mammals and even humans! Viruses, on the other hand, are tiny pieces of genetic material wrapped in a protein coating, and can hardly be described as alive in a conventional sense.

While both yellow fever and malaria are transmitted by mosquitoes, yellow fever is transmitted by the genus Aedes, whereas malaria is exclusively transmitted by the genus Anopheles (at least in humans, and all other mammals for that matter).While spraying inside households may reduce the prevalence of  both types of mosquitoes, Aedes mosquitoes tend to feed during the day, so sleeping under an insecticide-treated bednet is less protective against yellow fever than it is against malaria. Also, a vaccine is available for yellow fever (and has been available for over 50 years), whereas as I describe above, no such vaccine yet exists for malaria.

Finally, while superficially the symptoms of yellow fever and malaria may seem similar (fever, nausea, aches), other manifestations of the disease can be very different. Yellow fever is technically considered a hemorrhagic disease, since it can cause increased tendency to bleed in patients. Also, in some patients, the initial symptoms are followed by an acute liver phase, causing jaundice which can turn the patient yellow (and hence the name). Malaria can also affect the liver, and cause ild jaundice, but usually not to the extent of yellow fever.  Once a patient has been diagnosed with yellow fever, there is no specific treatment, and the patient is merely treated based on symptoms, to ease their discomfort. Vaccination is the mainstay of control of this disease, and has been very successful in many places; the total number of worldwide cases is estimated by the World Health Organization to be around 300,000, with 20,000 deaths, mainly in Africa.

The burden of malaria is also mainly felt in Africa, though the number of cases and deaths is vastly higher – globally, there are approximately 200 million cases of malaria in 2010, with almost 700,000 deaths. Along with the general symptoms of fever and nausea, the most dangerous manifestation of malaria is when it causes cerebral symptoms; this is usually only caused by Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and can lead to impaired consciousness, coma and even death. Also in contrast to yellow fever,  the mainstay of control is a combination of prevention (mostly with vector control, i.e. using bednets, indoor residual spraying and destruction of breeding habitats and larvae) and treatment (using a variety of medications).