GUYANA, in 2013, recorded a significant decrease in the number of malaria cases and health authorities continue to urge early diagnosis of the vector-borne disease in a bid to reduce the mortality rate.
According to a Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) report, figures released by the Ministry of Health show that for 2013, there were 23,489 as against 31,602 in 2012.Although the ministry gave no figures regarding the number of deaths, it indicated that malaria mortality rates are continually falling as increased prevention and control measures dramatically lessen its impact.
The ministry said efforts at combating the ailment, driven through its Vector Control Services (VCS), still bear fruit but that the hinterland locations remain the most vulnerable to the sickness.
The ministry said, within those regions, climatic and other conditions favour transmission that also occurs when people with low immune systems move into those places in search of jobs and are negligent in taking protective steps, such as sleeping under mosquito nets and using insect repellents.
The health officials said one of the biggest interventions by the VCS in 2013 has been the distribution of some 42,000 insecticide-treated nets for use in beds and hammocks.
The VCS said it intends to distribute 52,000 this year and would work with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) in conducting a survey on the effectiveness of the exercise.
The Health Ministry pointed out that it has been disbursing, free of charge, the very expensive anti-malaria drug, Coartem, recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and certified by PAHO.
Different strains
There are three different strains of malaria in Guyana, plasmodium falciparum, plasmodium vivax and plasmodium malaria. More than 50 percent of them are of the most serious form, plasmodium falciparum.
“One of the major reasons why people die of falciparum malaria in Guyana is due to neglect. Persons using the Coartem tablet, sometimes, neglect to conform to the rules of use as instructed by their physician, in terms of dosage and period of treatment, with the result being a relapse and deterioration of the affected person’s health,” the Government Information News Agency (GINA) said.
GINA said that, with proper treatment, symptoms of malaria, usually, go away quickly, with a cure within two weeks.
It added that signs of malaria include chills, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.