Search This Blog

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

India : Malaria version mutates into killer

Via Times of India :

" MUMBAI : When two patients with paralysis were recently wheeled into the emergency room at KEM, they could not have imagined that malaria was behind their condition. A series of tests established that it was falciparum malaria that had caused paralysis in their limbs. "As KEM is a referral hospital, we are used to getting the most unusual of cases," said head of medical intensive care unit Dr Nitin Karnik, who treated both patients.

Specific treatment resulted in the patients regaining almost 60% of their movement, said Dr Karnik, adding that this has been a peculiar year for malaria. Last year, about 36% of malaria cases and 67% of malaria deaths in Maharashtra occurred in Mumbai. Worse, said Dr Karnik, the usually benign version of malaria called vivax has metamorphosed into a virulent killer. "In the last six to 12 months, there have been cases with complications that we have never seen before," he added."

No comments:

Post a Comment