June 2002
Welcome to the 4th National Malaria Update.
This update serves to represent the current national malaria case and death trends. In addition it provides feedback to a range of persons involved in the malaria programmes. The figures presented are subject to modification and thus changes in previous month data may occur.
For this edition, malaria cases and deaths for the three malaria affected provinces 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 occurs from October to May and is therefore defined as the "malaria season". However, annual comparisons of data is recorded and graphed presented from July to June. The provinces have been consulted for comments regarding the general trends. Inputs or comments regarding the data interpretation are welcomed.
This update is the last one for the 2001/2002 malaria season. However, the figures presented for June may alter due to changes made after follow-ups have been conducted and data has been cleaned. The analysis of the 2001/2002 season will be conducted in the following update. Please note that no data was received from the rest of the country hence it was not included in this update. Generally, the number of reported cases for June is considerably lower than that of May as a result of it being low malaria transmission period. Provincial malaria programmes are winding down with staff making use of this time to take leave.
Limpopo
For the month of June, 14 malaria cases were reported. This figure is 12 times lower than that reported for June 2001. It is expected that the number of reported malaria cases for June will increase following the incorporation of late reported data. From July 2001 - June 2002, 71 deaths were notified resulting in a case-fatality rate of 0.8%. This rate is higher than the National target of 0.5%. The reason for this increased case-fatality rate needs to be investigated. A few factors that affect case-fatality rate include: inappropriate case management, and late reporting to a health facility. Several amendments were made to previously reported data for the month of March, April and May with additional cases and deaths having been reported.
Current activities include: servicing of pumps, preparation for spraying and training and cross-border collaboration with Zimbabwe. All malaria microscopists were vaccinated against Hepatitis B.
A total of 226 cases were reported in Mpumalanga for the month of June. A high number of cases 67% (151/226) are still being reported from the Tonga health district. More than half (57%) of these reported cases from the Tonga district are from three facilities - namely; Tonga Hospital (reported 24), Komatipoort Municipal Clinic (reported 44) and Strydomblock Muncipal Clinic (reported 18). One death was reported from the Tonga hospital, Tonga district. Only one case was reported from Sabie.
The case fatality rate for the current season is 0.3%
KwaZulu-Natal
A total of 99 malaria cases were reported for June 2002. More than half (55%) of these reported cases were from the South. The majority of passive malaria cases reported from the South are from occupants in the Durban and Pietermaritzburg area whilst the active cases are from farm laborers in the surrounding area. A large number of these passive and active cases are imported from neighbouring countries. The number of reported cases in the Ingwavuma area has decreased by 77% (103 to 24). One death was reported fro Benedictine in Pongola for June. Malaria control duties as well as health education continue in the area.
The rest of South Africa
No update was received for the month of June
Compiled by the National Malaria Control Programme, National Department of Health, with the assistance of the Provincial Malaria Control Programme Managers
Please contact Ms Johnson for any enquiries at tel no: (012) 312-0046 or e-mail: johnsc@health.gov.za
