Malaria is an infection of red blood cells caused by a single-celled parasite. Malaria is almost always spread by the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito, but also potentially by a transfusion with contaminated blood, or an injection with a needle that was previously used by a person with the infection. Hospital spokesperson Lesibana Ledwaba said, “The hospital suspects more cases will come up until April. Between December and January the hospital confirmed 64 malaria cases.”
He said people who live in malaria-infested areas and people who travel to those areas must take precautions. “It is especially important that South Africans recognise that large areas of our holiday terrain are still classified as malaria areas.”
Malaria preventative measures include:
q Use long-lasting insecticide sprays in homes and buildings
q Place screens on doors and windows
q Use mosquito netting over beds. Mosquito netting can be soaked in certain types of insecticide as well
q Apply mosquito repellents on the skin
q Wear sufficient clothing, particularly after sun-down to protect as much of the skin as possible against mosquito bites. It is a rule of thumb that mosquitoes are less likely to land on white areas of clothing
q Many people who live in malaria-infested areas sleep with strong fan currents in a room, which seems to discourage mosquitoes from feeding
q When visiting malaria prone areas, it is important to take prophylaxis which is available at all travel clinics
Ledwaba stressed that the above measures are at least as important as taking medicine to prevent malaria, since none of the medicines are 100 percent effective in preventing malaria.
First malaria symptoms could be flu-like symptoms, like having flu, such as aches and pains, fever, headache.
“Some forms of malaria are more severe than others, and the time between the paroxysms differs depending on the type of malaria. Malaria should be suspected in anybody with these sorts of symptoms who has been to a malaria area,” he said.
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