KARACHI, Nov 25: Pakistan being an endemic zone for malaria registers 50,000 deaths every year with victims pertaining to all age groups.

The situation is, however, turning serious with growing resistance among locals against the WHO-recommended first line of drugs comprising chloroquine phosphate, bezoquine and pyramithamine/sulphadoxine, a compound drug commonly known as Fansidar.

About 33 per cent resistance to chloroquine and 31 per cent to sulpha doxine/pyremethamine has been registered in Pakistan during the recent years.

Physicians attribute the situation to non-compliance to recommended drug therapy and its due course on part of patients. The first line 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.

Malaria is also observed to be predisposing individuals to severe malnutrition. Meanwhile, the non-availability of diagnostic kits also continues to restrict a majority of local doctors to conventional methods, often delaying diagnosis.

The situation commonly affects children suffering from malaria, being increasingly witnessed brought to hospitals often in precarious conditions.

Hospital-based data of Sindh reveal children to be generally inflicted with Falciparum Malaria against the Vivax, commonly observed some time back. Paediatricians, mentioning that the data cannot be considered generalized as no reliable community-based study is available, also referred to the fact that only serious cases are referred to hospitals.

Fever, anaemia, hepatosplenomegaly, cerebral malaria, jaundice 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 whereas many also were those below one year of age and above six months.

The main presentation are fever, anaemia etc. These are followed by congestive cardiac failure, jaundice, acute renal failure, febrile fits, gastroenteritis etc.

The rise is also witnessed in the number of chronic patients of malaria, who suffer recurrent fever and thus threatened to severe conditions at any point of time.—APP