Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes. It is mostly found in tropical countries. It is preventable and curable.
Malaria mostly spreads to people through the bites of some infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Blood transfusion and contaminated needles may also transmit malaria. The first symptoms may be mild, similar to many febrile illnesses, and difficulty to recognize as malaria.
There are 5 Plasmodium parasite species that cause malaria in humans and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat. P. falciparum is the deadliest malaria parasite and the most prevalent on the African continent. P. vivax is the dominant malaria parasite in most countries outside of sub-Saharan Africa. The other malaria species which can infect humans are P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi. Left untreated, P. falciparum malaria can progress to severe illness and death within 24 hours.
The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2021, the Region was home to 95% of malaria cases and 96% of malaria deaths.
The illustration below shows the burden of Malaria caused by Plasmodium Falciparum in 7 regions of Africa over a period of 11 years. From the regions included in our analysis Uganda has the highest burden of the parasite followed by Kenya and Ethiopia, respectively.
Download the high quality visualization here
Source- WHO GHO Dataset
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MedInEthiopiahttps://medinethiopia.com/author/fomclb/
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MedInEthiopiahttps://medinethiopia.com/author/fomclb/
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MedInEthiopiahttps://medinethiopia.com/author/fomclb/
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MedInEthiopiahttps://medinethiopia.com/author/fomclb/
