Sunday (April 25th) is a day to refocus our lens of the past 14 months living and working through the global COVID-19 pandemic and be reminded of the ongoing global battle countless countries are continuing to fight against Malaria. Today is World Malaria Day, a day to celebrate the victories, reflect on the challenges, stand in unity with our global colleagues and remember those many children and individuals who are still losing their lives to a preventable disease. 

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable.

My first experience of how dangerous malaria could be was in Kenya in 2003. I was a febrile third-year medical student, sitting in the back of a pick-up truck following a seemingly endless dirt track to the nearest Health Centre with my unconscious friend who had just had a seizure.  Whilst we both had a rocky few days, we both made full recoveries and are counted amongst the privileged few to survive without ongoing sequelae. Malaria had managed to get through the defensive mosquito nets and antimalarials, but we had access to a vehicle for rapid transport, access to money for treatment, and some knowledge as medical students to ensure we got to the right place, at the right time, and got the right treatment. Many are not so fortunate.

Fast forward five years to Uganda in 2008. I would never get used to the cries of mothers who had carried their children unimaginable distances to our rural hospital only for it to be too late and then to watch the sight of them carrying their lifeless bodies home to be buried. It all just seemed so futile – if only they had a bed net or could have gone to a clinic sooner. Sadly, as in many preventable diseases, the most deprived communities are affected disproportionately and children under five years old carry the biggest death toll.

This year we have been bombarded with daily infection rates and death tolls as increasingly large figures appear on our screens. Clinicians and the public alike were shocked and horrified by these growing numbers. Have we become “statistic-fatigued”? Do the numbers no longer hold their impact? For those of us not living in a malaria-endemic area, the personal experiences are few and far between. These malaria statistics hold the stories of many but the identity of none. Let’s look afresh at these huge numbers and allow ourselves to be shocked and horrified, figures that have remained unacceptable for years, decades, and millennia.

The current yearly figures from WHO report 229 million cases of Malaria worldwide with a death toll of 409 000 the majority (67%) of these being children under 5 years old. That means a child is dying from Malaria every 2 minutes. This is not OK!

 

A concerted global effort over the past few years has saved hundreds of thousands of lives with preventative malaria programmes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates in excess of 1 billion malaria cases and 7 million deaths have been prevented since 2000. The number of countries being declared malaria-free is also increasing. This helps reduce huge systems and economic burdens on a country. The WHO’s E-2025 report is announcing that 26 countries and territories are within reach of zero malaria cases by 2025. This is really encouraging yet there is still a long way to go for many countries, particularly in Africa.  

Every Win Counts

One of the most effective weapons in continuing this fight is the younger generation, those that grew up in a time where Malaria is no longer an unconquerable giant, but something that can be overcome.  The ‘Zero Malaria’ and ‘Drawing the Line’ campaigns empowered young people to keep taking ground. ‘’Malaria we will not let you steal from us anymore… We are the generation that can end Malaria!’’

Young people across Africa have seen the impact of malaria on their lives and futures and are motivated to take action. Even if malaria doesn’t kill, it prevents young people from going to school, realising their full potential, and building their futures. Recent surveys have shown that young people are keen to volunteer in distributing mosquito nets, sharing information about malaria, as well as engaging with their community and national policymakers to prioritise malaria. 

Malaria experiences from our colleagues at Mbarara University EMIG

As a medical student who has been trained in Uganda – a country where malaria is a major public health problem that is associated with slow socio-economic development and poverty, and the most frequently reported disease at both public and private health facilities. One always hears ‘Common things occur commonly and rare things occur rarely”. Malaria goes beyond being common in our communities; “You can’t just convince a senior house officer or attending that you have learnt something from their ward if you don’t know how malaria manifests in their speciality– for example malaria in pregnancy or severe malaria in paeds. We are expected to be “singing” (having them at our fingertips) the signs and symptoms, investigations, laboratory findings, the treatment plans, and the complications of malaria, like nothing else.

“It goes beyond experiencing malaria as clinicians—some of our colleagues had to become caretakers during their younger years to care for their parents suffering from malaria, which can leave some of them with traumatizing experiences. CoArtem and Panadol are like some food in the home. They should always be there” – Fourth Year Medical student MUST-EMIG.

“Complications of malaria are one of the popular things that we are commonly tested on about on ward rounds” – Fourth-year medical student and founder of MUST-EMIG

So back to 2021, COVID-19, and the challenges ahead…

There are real fears that the challenge of COVID-19 has been a huge threat to the progress made in eliminating Malaria. Many places have faced an increased burden on already fragile health systems. There have been disruptions to the distribution of materials including mosquito nets and antimalarials, as well as reports of increasing reluctance to seek medical care for patients with a fever due to the fear of the stigma of COVID-19. The WHO’s estimates that malaria interventions have been reduced by between 15 and 25 per cent during the pandemic. Furthermore, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic likely caused 40-50,000 excess deaths from malaria that otherwise could have been prevented. 

Behind the scenes underreporting also exists and the reality of the global refugee crisis and countless internally displaced persons (IDP) means many are facing ‘syndemics’ of COVID-19 and malaria, combined with any other crisis du jour in a variety of environments. 

So what has been happening with malaria elsewhere? 

Unsurprisingly, the number of malaria cases identified in 2020 in those with recent travel history to an endemic area have fallen. Malaria tests performed (on adults and children) at the Manchester Foundation Trust have fallen by 68% compared to 2019, with 92% fewer positive cases. As travel corridors start to re-open, those working in malaria-free countries will need to start thinking ‘could this be malaria?’ once again. While this fall in testing numbers is not surprising, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t include malaria on your list of differentials when warranted.  There is a great refresher on the website and here’s a memory jog for those of us who haven’t thought about malaria for a while.

Think Malaria

• The inability to take any oral antimalarials even after administration of an antiemetic.
• A child with malaria can have a bacterial co-infection, be sure to address that if suspected!
•  It is vital to differentiate uncomplicated vs complicated (severe) malaria early.
• Oral outpatient management for uncomplicated malaria is reasonable, but urgent inpatient management for severe malaria is required. 

A call to action

Moving forwards there is a call to urgent action to ensure that all the progress that has been made is sustained and built upon. Global and national leaders need to continue to prioritise funding and facilitate research and development into new interventions as well as the delivery of effective prevention and treatments to the most vulnerable areas. There needs to be ongoing recognition and support for those health care workers delivering care in such challenging circumstances to ensure access to Malaria prevention, testing and treatment for all. 

Ultimately, there is hope. The end is in sight and malaria eradication is possible. We had a great start with the Global Malaria Eradication Programme started in the 1950s, but the reality of the times prevented further success. Let’s not forget every child and family behind the statistics. Be outraged by the numbers but also encouraged by the wins. Keep talking about malaria. Encourage and support our global colleagues. Listen to their experiences, learn from them, and keep standing united together to eradicate Malaria.

What can you do today?

Share the post. Encourage our global colleagues today – we stand with you #endmalaria #zeromalaria #drawtheline #zeromalariastartswithme #worldmalariaday. Remember Malaria! Listen to your patients, take a travel history, ensure you make referrals appropriately. Engage the ID team early if you are unsure! 

Selected references

Dyer O. African malaria deaths set to dwarf covid-19 fatalities as pandemic hits control efforts, WHO warns. BMJ 2020; doi:10.1136/bmj.m4711

Mendenhall, E., 2020. The COVID-19 syndemic is not global: context matters. The Lancet, 396(10264), p.1731.

RBM Partnership to End Malaria. (2021). World Malaria Day 2021 Key Messages.

Singer, M., Bulled, N., Ostrach, B., & Mendenhall, E. (2017). Syndemics and the biosocial conception of health. The Lancet, 389(10072), 941–950. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30003-x 

World Health Organization. (2020). World malaria report. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

https://targetmalaria.org/ Accessed 13/4/2021

https://endmalaria.org/ Accessed 13/4/21

https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/ Accessed 13/4/21

Haematology Laboratory Manchester University Foundation Trust (personal communication)

Dr Emma Hulme

MBChB, MPH, MRCGP, DTM&H, DCH, DRCOG, DFRSH

Emma works as a GP in a city practice and in the Emergency Department at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Before training in General Practice she worked in a number of countries overseas in maternal and child health roles and currently leads the Global DFTB Bubble. The rest of her time is spent chasing after her 3 little people and trying to find a quiet corner for 5 minutes peace!

Christopher McKenna, MPH

Chris is a former critical care paramedic turned final year medical student at the University of Queensland – Ochsner Clinical School in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally from NJ, he has spent time working on pre-hospital system development in Somaliland and Sierra Leone, as well as time with various NGO/IGO in the Philippines. He is eager to return to Australia for his internship in 2022 with the ultimate goal of pursuing a career in PEM/EM. When not at the hospital, he can be found dreaming about travelling post-COVID, avoiding falling into the Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River in the search of the perfect burger, or at pub trivia with his partner at a local brewery.