Is malaria over-diagnosed? A World Malaria Day 2017 experience by Excellence and Friends Management Care Centre (EFMC) and Partners, Abuja Nigeria
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Malaria remains a major cause of mortality across the world, but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. WHO-
sponsored World Malaria Day activity has helped to improve education and has contributed to a reduction in mortality
globally in the past decade. However, much needs to be done still in Africa. We report on a World Malaria Day
scheme in three primary Healthcare Facilities in and around the Abuja Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria in 2017.
Activity included educational talks to pregnant women and nursing mothers of young children, with malarial testing,
distribution of free mosquito nets and also medical treatment if needed. We found a large clinical over-diagnosis
of malaria with simple fevers of any cause being reported as malaria. None of these cases were found to be due
to malaria on formal malarial testing. We conclude that efforts should continue into education and prevention of
malaria with insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets a key factor. However, over-diagnosis of malaria and the use of
unnecessary antimalarial treatment may lead to parasite resistance to antimalarial treatment, morbidity from drug
side-effects and potential mortality from not receiving the right treatment for other febrile illnesses. We recommend
that malarial testing, particularly with simple blood film microscopy is implemented more widely across Africa, as it is
simple to perform and allows effective management plans to be drawn up for individual patients.
sponsored World Malaria Day activity has helped to improve education and has contributed to a reduction in mortality
globally in the past decade. However, much needs to be done still in Africa. We report on a World Malaria Day
scheme in three primary Healthcare Facilities in and around the Abuja Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria in 2017.
Activity included educational talks to pregnant women and nursing mothers of young children, with malarial testing,
distribution of free mosquito nets and also medical treatment if needed. We found a large clinical over-diagnosis
of malaria with simple fevers of any cause being reported as malaria. None of these cases were found to be due
to malaria on formal malarial testing. We conclude that efforts should continue into education and prevention of
malaria with insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets a key factor. However, over-diagnosis of malaria and the use of
unnecessary antimalarial treatment may lead to parasite resistance to antimalarial treatment, morbidity from drug
side-effects and potential mortality from not receiving the right treatment for other febrile illnesses. We recommend
that malarial testing, particularly with simple blood film microscopy is implemented more widely across Africa, as it is
simple to perform and allows effective management plans to be drawn up for individual patients.
Date Issued
2017-06-28
Date Acceptance
2017-06-01
Citation
Malaria Chemotherapy Control & Elimination, 2017, 6 (2)
ISSN
2470-6965
Publisher
OMICS International
Journal / Book Title
Malaria Chemotherapy Control & Elimination
Volume
6
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Oleribe OO, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Grant Number
105603/Z/14/Z
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
1000156