10,900 Malaria deaths occur in Ebola-affected countries in 2014: study

West African countries that were hit hard by Ebola might also witnessed as many as 10,900 extra malaria deaths last year, according to a research report released Friday by the Imperial College London.

Researchers analyzed demographic and health survey data from 2000 up to the start of the Ebola outbreak in March 2014. They then removed the effect of treatment and hospital care to estimate the potential impact of the ongoing Ebola epidemic on malaria cases and deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, the three west African countries that suffered severe Ebola epidemic last year.

According to the report, the epidemic led to the closure of many health facilities due to the burden of caring for and isolating patients safely and the threat posed to healthcare workers.

"The ongoing Ebola epidemic in parts of west Africa largely overwhelmed already fragile healthcare systems in 2014, making adequate care for malaria impossible and threatening to jeopardize progress made in malaria control and elimination over the past decade," said lead author Dr Patrick Walker from Imperial College London.

The study suggested that the west African Ebola outbreak could have resulted in a comparable number of malaria deaths to those due to Ebola itself, the number of which stood at 10,704 by April 12, 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

The researchers said restoring healthcare provision to pre-Ebola standards in the region could prevent 15,600 malaria deaths in 2015, highlighting the urgent need to support health system recovery.

Their projections also suggested that emergency drug treatment campaigns can be a highly effective method to reduce further malaria mortality and the burden of non-Ebola fever cases in the region.

The report has been published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Endit