KARACHI, Sept 17: Pakistan, being an endemic zone for malaria, registers a high incidence of associated mortality and morbidity among people of all age groups, particularly children.

The situation is turning further serious with growing resistance among local people against the WHO’s recommended first line of drugs comprising chloroquine phosphate, bezoquine and pyramithamine sulphadoxine, a compound drug commonly known as Fansidar.

During recent years, around 33 per cent resistance to chloroquine and 31 per cent to pyramithamine sulphadoxine has been registered in Pakistan.

Physicians attribute the situation to non-compliance to the recommended drug therapy and its due course on part of patients. The first line of drugs must necessarily be taken for at least three days.

It is owing to the very deviation that resistance is witnessed against conventional drugs further leading to sudden surge in the incidence of falciparum malaria against vivax commonly witnessed till some time back, commented Dr Saquib Ansari, a paediatrician.

Non-availability of diagnostic kits also continue to restrict a large majority of local doctors to conventional methods often delaying diagnosis.

The situation particularly affects children suffering from malaria, being increasingly witnessed at hospital often in precarious conditions.

Fever, anaemia, hepatosplenomegaly, cerebral malaria and acute renal failure were the common presentations of severe falciparum malaria reported at paediatric wards of government hospitals spread across the province. The most commonly affected age group falls between one and six years while many are those below one year of age and above six months.

It would be pertinent to mention that rise is also witnessed in the number of chronic patients of malaria, who suffer recurrent fever and thus threatened to severe conditions at any time. Such patients have been strongly recommended to complete a three-month course of medicines.

The head of paediatrics department, Aga Khan University, Prof A.G. Billoo, said that any fever extending beyond one week and not responding to conventional anti-malarial must be suspected for resistant malaria.

According to him, timely referral to hospitals saves many lives, including around 50 malarial deaths (mainly presumed to be cerebral malaria) registered every year in Karachi and around 15,000 to 20,000 annually across the country.—APP