The Ebola epidemic may have caused as many deaths from malaria as from the virus itself in the three stricken African countries, researchers revealed today.
According to an analysis, deaths from malaria increased by more than 10,000 in the three countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, last year, because of the break-down of health care.
Another 3,900 people may have died because of the impact on the programme to roll out insecticide-treated malaria nets.
Nearly 9,000 people had been recorded as dying from Ebola by February of this year.
The analysis was reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases before World Malaria Day tomorrow (April 25).
Researcher Dr Patrick Walker, of Imperial College, London, UK, said: “Our predictions highlight the true magnitude of the humanitarian impact caused by the Ebola epidemic.
"In heavily affected Ebola areas the indirect impact of Ebola upon malaria deaths is likely to be of a similar magnitude to the public health burden caused by cases of Ebola directly.
"Measures to prevent malaria infection, such as the emergency mass drug administration measures currently recommended by the WHO, are urgently needed while these health systems recover.”
Malaria morbidity and mortality in Ebola-affected countries caused by decreased health-care capacity, and the potential effect of mitigation strategies: a modelling analysis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 24 April 2015 [abstract]
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