COVID-19, MALARIA AND PREGNANCY CREATE “PERFECT STORM” FOR PREVENTABLE DEATHS IN AFRICA

[COVID-19\Africa]
R. Allen: “The countries with the highest malaria burden, mainly in Africa, are also affected by conflict, population displacement, malnutrition and stress. You add COVID-19 and people – especially pregnant women and children – are extremely at risk.”
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Pregnant women in malaria-prone areas are more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19, especially where pesticide spraying to kill mosquitoes has been suspended due to lockdowns, health experts warned ahead of World Malaria Day.

During pregnancy, women’s immune systems are lowered so as not to reject the fetus, putting them at risk of contracting both malaria and COVID-19, they said.

They also are vulnerable to misdiagnoses as the two diseases carry similar symptoms.

“It is a perfect storm,” said Richard Allen, head of The Mentor Initiative, a humanitarian organisation fighting tropical diseases. “The countries with the highest malaria burden, mainly in Africa, are also affected by conflict, population displacement, malnutrition and stress. You add COVID-19 and people – especially pregnant women and children – are extremely at risk.”

Around the globe, there have been more than 2.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 190,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally on Friday.

For the rest of story log on here https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-women-trfn/pregnancy-malaria-and-coronavirus-a-perfect-storm-for-preventable-deaths-idUSKCN226335