NATIONAL MALARIA UPDATE

April 2002

Welcome to the 2^nd National Malaria Update.

This update serves to provide feedback to a range of persons involved in the malaria programmes. For this edition, malaria cases and deaths for the three endemic areas in South Africa as well as for the rest of the country are presented. The total number of malaria cases reported as per malaria season for 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 are provided below. In South Africa, malaria transmission takes place primarily from October to May and is therefore defined as the "malaria season". However, for yearly comparisons of data, data is recorded and graphed from July to June. The provinces have been consulted for comments regarding the general trends. However, any further inputs or comments regarding the data are encouraged.

In general - as the current malaria season draws to an end, the number of reported cases for KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Northern Province continues to decrease.

Northern Province

For the month of April, 397 cases were reported. Of these, 28 were identified via active surveillance whilst 369 were via passive surveillance. Cases were reported from several areas. Mutale, Thohoyandou, and Messina are the three areas reporting cases in excess of 50. The dry cooler weather has led to a decrease in the number of mosquito vectors and in return a decrease in malaria transmission. Mop up spraying and the spraying of high risk areas was completed at the end of March. The current focus of the programme is on case tracing and active surveillance. In addition, planning, assessment of spraying and operational administration is currently underway. From July 2001 – April 2002, 34 deaths were notified resulting in a case-fatality rate of 0.6%. Several modifications were made to reported data for the month of March with 504 additional cases having been reported.

Mpumalanga

A total of 1022 cases were reported in Mpumalanga for the month of April. This figure is slightly lower (230) than that reported for 2001. More than 70% (729/1022) of these reported cases are from the Tonga health district. Almost half (47%) of these reported cases from the Tonga district are from three facilities - namely;Naas clinic (reported 95), Komatipoort Municipal Clinic (reported 165) and Tonga hospital (reported 83). One death was reported from the Shongwe health district The majority (89%) of cases were reported via passive surveillance.

The case fatality rate for the current season thus far is 0.2

KwaZulu-Natal

The number of reported cases for April was 258. The southern areas and Ingwavuma continue to report a large number of cases. These areas account for 80% of the total number of cases reported for the month. The number of deaths reported the current malaria season total 21 resulting in a case-fatality rate of 0.7%. Spraying has been completed having achieved a 90% coverage. The current activities of the programme include bed net promotion as well as overall malaria education. Health education teams have been tasked with the promotion of malaria awareness within the province. The current bed net coverage is 8%

Other provinces

A total of 3 cases were reported for the month of March. No data has been received for April. These were reported from the North West Province. No deaths have been reported thus far for this malaria season whilst a total of 257 cases have been reported. The number of cases reported for this year does not reflect the true situation due to under reporting. Several of the provinces have not submitted their notification data for this year. All the cases notified for year are from the North West Province.

Compiled by Caron Johnson and Patrick Moonasar, National Department of Health, with the assistance of the Provincial Malaria Control Programme Managers

Tel (012) 312-0046
e-mail: johnsc@health.gov.za