Patients of brain malaria found in southern Nepal

Patients of brain malaria are found at Dhanusha district in southern Nepal, the Janakpur Zonal Hospital at the district said Sunday.

According to a statement issued by the hospital, brain malaria is more dangerous than common malaria. Patients of brain malaria become unconscious just after having fever for few times.

General Branch of Disease Control has provided 10 sets of disease diagnose equipment to the hospital after discovering brain malaria cases in the district.

There are 700 patients of brain malaria in Nepal, and the number is more in Dhanusha, Jhapa and Kanchanpur districts than other parts of the country.

In the primary stage of treatment, patients are given injection named "Kuinidin" when they are unconscious and then given medicine after they become conscious, Chief of the Hospital Lakhanlal Shah said.

The Nepali Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) started spraying against malaria and kala-azar in the high-risk Terai districts in southern Nepal this year to check the mortality rate.

The spraying drive for malaria is expected to cover over 250, 000 people, the EDCD said.

Statistics shows 32 of 2,229 kala-azar patients in 2003 were reported dead and 15 of 1,526 in 2004.

The National Malaria Eradication Program was launched in 1958 with the objective of eradicating the disease in a limited period.

Source: Xinhua