First Malaria Alert issued in Seoul, How to deal with it?
Aug 06, 2024
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Professor Park Hwan-hee said "Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease transmitted by spot-wing mosquitoes. When mosquitoes infected with the protozoa absorb human blood, the protozoa enter the human blood and spread it."
Over the past five years, the number of malaria patients in Korea has been around 300 to 700 per year. The largest number of patients are in their 20s and 30s, but there are also 20 to 30 children under the age of 19 every year. The main areas of occurrence are northern Gyeonggi-do, Incheon, and Gangwon-do near the armistice line, and the scope has been spreading recently.
The main malaria that occurs in Korea is samil fever malaria. The main symptoms are chills, high fever, and sweating that are repeated every 48 hours. Symptoms such as headache, diarrhea, and vomiting can be accompanied. Fortunately, the fatality rate is not high in most cases. However, in travelers who have been to malaria-infected areas, rapid diagnosis and treatment are important because the disease progresses quickly and fatal symptoms such as loss of consciousness, seizures, coma, multiple convulsions, metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, severe anemia, acute kidney dysfunction, jaundice, pulmonary edema, and shock can occur.
The diagnosis of malaria is made through blood tests. A rapid diagnostic test is performed first, and then a microscopic or gene detection test is performed as a confirmatory diagnostic test.
Treatment of domestic samil fever malaria is usually carried out through oral drugs. In the case of children, infants under 6 months have drugs that require attention to use, so expert counseling is required. In addition, drug resistance varies depending on the type of malaria protozoa or epidemic area, so drug treatment is performed in consideration of overseas countries and infected areas. If you do not receive treatment with an appropriate drug for a certain period of time, it may recur, so you must complete the treatment period with an appropriate drug at the time of diagnosis.
Professor Park Hwan-hee said "There is a misunderstanding that malaria will spread from person to person because it is an infectious disease, but malaria patients cannot spread from person to person, so no special isolation is required. However, since mosquitoes that bite patients with malaria can transmit protozoa to others, patients with malaria should be careful not to be bitten by mosquitoes for about three weeks.
To prevent malaria, it is necessary to prevent mosquito bites by wearing long-sleeved clothes and using mosquito repellents during outdoor activities in summer and evening when mosquitoes are active. In addition, malaria has recently occurred not only in the vicinity of the armistice line, but also in Seoul and some parts of central Gyeonggi Province, so care should be taken if you live or plan to visit the area.
Professor Park Hwan-hee said, `Domestic malaria is a disease that can be sufficiently managed with proper prevention and early treatment because it rarely goes to severe disease, so there is no need to have excessive fear. However, as outdoor activities and overseas visits increase during the summer vacation season, we hope that you pay special attention to mosquito prevention and visit a medical institution for diagnosis and treatment as soon as suspected symptoms occur.'
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