Kudos to authors of this article. It is a very timely article
epecially when the malaria is staging a come back in Sub-Saharan Africa.
On Copperbelt in Zambia, Konkola Copper Mines Plc. started Roll Back
Malaria programme 3 years ago by spraying all household in the mining
towns of Chingola and Chililabombwe. The programme had excellent results
in first two years with the malaria incidence rates dropping dramatically.
This year we are witnessing increasing number of patients admitted with
malaria in our hospital. What is intersting as well as troubling is the
fact that almost 70% of these patients have hyperparasitaemia (Blood slde
3+ or above). We suspect that two years of relative freedom from malaria
has lowered the immunity in the population of these towns. As a result
when they travel out side the mining towns to the areas of high incidence
and are affected with malaria, they are not able to fight the infection
with the same efficiency as they used to before Roll-Back era. As such we
have a large number of severe malaria patients to treat.
This article gives us alternative modality, which is easier and
cheaper, for treatment which is welcome.
Rapid Response:
A very interesting and timely article.
Sir,
Kudos to authors of this article. It is a very timely article epecially when the malaria is staging a come back in Sub-Saharan Africa.
On Copperbelt in Zambia, Konkola Copper Mines Plc. started Roll Back Malaria programme 3 years ago by spraying all household in the mining towns of Chingola and Chililabombwe. The programme had excellent results in first two years with the malaria incidence rates dropping dramatically. This year we are witnessing increasing number of patients admitted with malaria in our hospital. What is intersting as well as troubling is the fact that almost 70% of these patients have hyperparasitaemia (Blood slde 3+ or above). We suspect that two years of relative freedom from malaria has lowered the immunity in the population of these towns. As a result when they travel out side the mining towns to the areas of high incidence and are affected with malaria, they are not able to fight the infection with the same efficiency as they used to before Roll-Back era. As such we have a large number of severe malaria patients to treat.
This article gives us alternative modality, which is easier and cheaper, for treatment which is welcome.
Competing interests: None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests