ILOILO City – Of Western Visayas’ six provinces, only Antique and Negros Occidental have yet to achieve malaria-free status.
To be declared as such, the two provinces must have, among others, no indigenous case of malaria for five consecutive years, said Maria Lourdes Monegro, entomologist at the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
A malaria case is considered indigenous if the patient contracted it in his or her locality and not from other places.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
It is preventable and curable but Monegro said, “Kon indi mabulong it could result to severe malaria and eventually to death.”
The provinces of Guimaras, Aklan, Iloilo, and Capiz have all be certified malaria-free by DOH.
“Antique signified its intention to be similarly declared. It is readying for validation,” said Monegro.
On the other hand, Monegro said, Negros Occidental is now in the thick of complying with requirements to be declared malaria-free.
A validation team from DOH’s central office visited Antique on the last week of April.
Antique’s last indigenous case of malaria was recorded in 2008 yet, said Monegro.
Monegro said Western Visayas has malaria cases but “minimal” and these were “imported.”
So far this year, DOH-6 recorded two “imported” malaria cases in the Iloilo municipalities of Lambunao and Barotac Viejo. The patients were both seamen who had traveled to areas outside the country were there were malaria cases.
Last year, DOH-6 two cases from Dingle, Iloilo and Patnongon, Antique.
Children with severe malaria frequently develop one or more of the following symptoms: severe anemia, respiratory distress in relation to metabolic acidosis, or cerebral malaria.
In 2017, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria in 90 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Malaria deaths reached 435 000 in 2017.
The WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2017, the region was home to 92 percent of malaria cases and 93 percent of malaria deaths.
Monegro said DOH-6 has been strengthening its information education campaign about malaria.
“Yearly ang aton campaign updates about the program. Naga-conduct kami vector mapping in the different municipalities para mabal-an kun my mga vector kita sang malaria,” said Monegro.
According to WHO, there are more than 400 different species of Anopheles mosquito; around 30 are malaria vectors of major importance. All of the important vector species bite between dusk and dawn.
Early diagnosis and treatment of malaria reduces disease and prevents deaths. It also contributes to reducing malaria transmission. The best available treatment is artemisinin-based combination therapy.
WHO recommends that all cases of suspected malaria be confirmed using parasite-based diagnostic testing (either microscopy or rapid diagnostic test) before administering treatment./PN
