Africa bears the burden of malaria infection. In fact, about 90% of all malaria deaths reported worldwide happens in Africa south of the Sahara.
The primary reason behind this fact is that the majority of infections are caused by Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the four human malaria parasites.
It is also because the most effective malaria vector – the mosquito Anopheles gambiae – is the most outspread in Africa and the most difficult to control.
About one million people from Africa die every year and most of them are children under 5 years old.
Malaria affects almost everyone living in the part of Africa defined by the southern fringes of the Sahara Desert in the north, and latitude of about 28° in the south.
Most people at risk of the disease live in areas of relatively stable malaria transmission – infection is common and occurs with sufficient frequency that some level of immunity develops.
Sadly enough, in areas of stable malaria transmission, young children and pregnant women are the most affected.
Most children experience their first malaria infections during the first year or two of life when they have not yet acquired adequate clinical immunity – which makes these early years particularly dangerous.
Ninety per cent of all malaria deaths in Africa occurs in young children. Adult women in areas of stable transmission have a high level of immunity, but this is impaired especially in the first pregnancy, with the result that risk of infection increases.
Since the introduction of the counter-attack mechanisms, malaria infection have significantly reduced by about 29% for all ages and 35% for children under the age of five years.
