Two new deaths reported as Malaria cases surge

LIMPOPO – The province has seen a surge in the number of malaria cases that rose to 1 423 and two deaths during the past four weeks. Spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Health, Neil Shikwambana, says these numbers are high as compared to the previous years. “The surge is attributed to the fact that we have just returned from Easter holidays wherein people traveled to various parts of the country and that of the continent and during that traveling process they could have been bitten by malaria bearing mosquitoes. “The surge in the province is reported mainly in the malaria epidemic prone areas of Vhembe (northern & eastern lowveld areas) and the east part of the Mopani region. Of these cases, 820 were reported from Vhembe & 423 from Mopani,” says Shikwambana.

Malaria is a treatable condition when diagnosed early and members of the public have been urged to visit their nearest healthcare facilities if they feel unwell. “Malaria symptoms include fever and flu like symptoms such as shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur in some cases,” adds Shikwambana. He says surveillance teams are investigating all notified cases at the community level. Meanwhile, over a million households have been reached through the department’s indoor residual spraying campaign.