Health workers at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda are reporting a shift in malaria infection trends, with older children now presenting with severe forms of the disease. Previously, malaria had primarily affected children under the age of five. The Ministry of Health's annual report, released last week, reveals that malaria is still the leading cause of illness for all age groups, accounting for 32.1% of the 44.5 million reported Out-Patient Department attendances in government hospitals last year and 26.2% of the 3.1 million hospital admissions recorded.
To address this trend, Dr. Jane Edwin Achan, a pediatrician and lecturer at Makerere University Department of Pediatrics, has urged health workers and parents to pay attention to children over the age of five who are increasingly reporting the disease. Speaking at a meeting to discuss these new trends, Dr. Achan emphasized the need for experts to pay attention to changing patterns and take appropriate measures to reduce the surge in malaria cases.
Dr. Achan also noted that infection rates are increasing after holidays, when there are increased travels to villages for festivities, indicating that mobile populations are more at risk of infection. She recommends that interventions, such as prophylaxis medicine, should be taken by those traveling to high-incidence districts.
Moreover, health workers are reporting a high rate of malaria re-treatment, where patients return with malaria shortly after being fully treated, despite efforts to combat the disease. According to Dr. Mukuzi Muhereza, a physician and former Secretary General of the Uganda Medical Association, a person treated appropriately for malaria should take at least two months before returning for the same treatment. However, hospitals are seeing patients returning for treatment much sooner, which is concerning. Dr. Muhereza calls for a proper analysis of what could be going wrong.
The Ministry of Health's report also shows that the country is currently experiencing a malaria epidemic affecting up to 70 districts, mostly in Bukedi, Busoga, Lango, and Acholi sub-regions. Therefore, it is crucial for health workers and experts to stay vigilant and take necessary precautions to combat the disease.