Health experts warn of an increased risk of malaria in flood-affected southern Pakistan, as flood-waters triggered by cyclone Yemyin at the end of June recede further, providing fertile ground for mosquitoes to breed.
An estimated 2.5 million people were affected by flooding after four days of torrential rain in Balochistan and Sindh provinces, leaving over 300 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
“We’re just at the very beginning of the malaria danger,” Cas Taylor, disease early warning system coordinator for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said. “The risk factors are increasing, not decreasing,” she explained.
Preventive efforts are under way, including the spraying of homes and potential breeding sites, as well as the distribution of bed nets. There has yet to be an outbreak of the vector-borne disease, but that could well change given the prevailing conditions on the ground.
More than one month after the disaster, with flood waters still receding, pools of stagnant water can now be seen in abundance.
A place to breed
“When you have a lot of water, the mosquitoes don’t have any place to breed,” Karla Bil, medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland in Islamabad, said. “But now that the water is going down, the mosquitoes again have a place to breed.”
Such conditions are a source of concern for aid workers on the ground, some of whom have already begun prepositioning malaria testing and treatment supplies to the affected area.
“The reported number of suspected malaria cases is not above the seasonal level,” Dr Farah Naureen of the international non-governmental organisation (NGO) Mercy Corps said. “Nonetheless, we must be prepared for that possibility should the situation deteriorate.”
Driving that message home, Sophia Craig-Massey, country director for the British medical NGO Merlin warned: “We expect that we will have a dramatic rise in malaria in the next two weeks,” citing the short time needed for mosquito larvae to hatch.
Still another concern, however, is whether local health officials will be able to cope with a potential malaria outbreak or not - with early diagnosis and prompt treatment remaining the basic elements of malaria control.
“The best cure at this point is prevention,” WHO’s Cas Taylor said, noting the importance of bed netting, as well as the draining away of stagnant water.
However, with thousands of people still living out in the open that will not prove easy. “If you don’t have shelter, you’re really in trouble because you are more likely to get bitten,” she said.
As part of the government’s response, Dr Mohammad Mukhtar, an officer with the Federal Directorate for Malaria Control in Islamabad told IRIN that special malaria guidelines had already been provided to all basic health facilities in the flood-affected area.
“Malaria treatment supplies have already been distributed. However, should the provincial authorities require more we are ready,” Mukhtar added.
Yet just having the supplies in place will not be enough. Local health services, already badly affected by the disaster, are already grappling with increased incidences of water-borne disease, including diarrhoea, viral hepatitis and a host of skin infections.
“We really should be looking at rehabilitating, or providing basic repairs to, these facilities so that health care provision can actually be done,” Mercy Corps’s Dr Naureen said.
Moreover, without proper testing facilities on the ground, at the moment most fever cases now coming in go unreported as confirmed malaria cases, and are instead labelled suspected malaria cases, she added.
“There is no microscopy going on in the field. It’s not happening. They’re not doing it,” the physician claimed.
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An estimated 2.5 million people were affected by flooding after four days of torrential rain in Balochistan and Sindh provinces, leaving over 300 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
“We’re just at the very beginning of the malaria danger,” Cas Taylor, disease early warning system coordinator for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said. “The risk factors are increasing, not decreasing,” she explained.
Preventive efforts are under way, including the spraying of homes and potential breeding sites, as well as the distribution of bed nets. There has yet to be an outbreak of the vector-borne disease, but that could well change given the prevailing conditions on the ground.
More than one month after the disaster, with flood waters still receding, pools of stagnant water can now be seen in abundance.
| Malaria facts | |
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Malaria is caused by a parasite called plasmodium and is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes |
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In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells |
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Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite |
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Malaria is both preventable and treatable; however, left untreated it can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs |
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In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines |
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More than one million people die of malaria every year - mostly infants, young children and pregnant women, and most of them in Africa. |
| Source: World Health Organization (WHO) | |
“When you have a lot of water, the mosquitoes don’t have any place to breed,” Karla Bil, medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland in Islamabad, said. “But now that the water is going down, the mosquitoes again have a place to breed.”
Such conditions are a source of concern for aid workers on the ground, some of whom have already begun prepositioning malaria testing and treatment supplies to the affected area.
“The reported number of suspected malaria cases is not above the seasonal level,” Dr Farah Naureen of the international non-governmental organisation (NGO) Mercy Corps said. “Nonetheless, we must be prepared for that possibility should the situation deteriorate.”
Driving that message home, Sophia Craig-Massey, country director for the British medical NGO Merlin warned: “We expect that we will have a dramatic rise in malaria in the next two weeks,” citing the short time needed for mosquito larvae to hatch.
Still another concern, however, is whether local health officials will be able to cope with a potential malaria outbreak or not - with early diagnosis and prompt treatment remaining the basic elements of malaria control.
“The best cure at this point is prevention,” WHO’s Cas Taylor said, noting the importance of bed netting, as well as the draining away of stagnant water.
However, with thousands of people still living out in the open that will not prove easy. “If you don’t have shelter, you’re really in trouble because you are more likely to get bitten,” she said.
As part of the government’s response, Dr Mohammad Mukhtar, an officer with the Federal Directorate for Malaria Control in Islamabad told IRIN that special malaria guidelines had already been provided to all basic health facilities in the flood-affected area.
“Malaria treatment supplies have already been distributed. However, should the provincial authorities require more we are ready,” Mukhtar added.
Yet just having the supplies in place will not be enough. Local health services, already badly affected by the disaster, are already grappling with increased incidences of water-borne disease, including diarrhoea, viral hepatitis and a host of skin infections.
“We really should be looking at rehabilitating, or providing basic repairs to, these facilities so that health care provision can actually be done,” Mercy Corps’s Dr Naureen said.
Moreover, without proper testing facilities on the ground, at the moment most fever cases now coming in go unreported as confirmed malaria cases, and are instead labelled suspected malaria cases, she added.
“There is no microscopy going on in the field. It’s not happening. They’re not doing it,” the physician claimed.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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