EBOLA OUTBREAK IN GUINEA, A HUGE SETBACK FOR MALARIA FIGHT

Experts say the continuing Ebola epidemic in Guinea has set back the country's fight against malaria and it is estimated that over 74,000 cases of malaria in 2014 were untreated either because clinics were closed or patients were too scared to seek help.
Experts further warn that deaths from malaria since Ebola epidemic began will far exceed the number of deaths from Ebola in Guinea which currently stands at 2444.
Dr. Mateusz Pluncinski and colleagues analysed the number of patients clinics in Guinea were attending to before and after the emergence of Ebola outbreak in 2014.
They sampled 60 clinics in the most Ebola affected districts and 60 clinics in districts unaffected by Ebola.
They looked at malaria prescriptions dispensed before and after Ebola outbreak and found that outpatient attendances declined dramatically by nearly half in some age groups in the worst  affected areas and the number of treated malaria cases declined by 69 percent.
US experts warn that malaria's deaths would have risen as a result.