Overtreatment of malaria in central, south Asia leading to neglect of other diseases, study finds

"Over diagnosis and mistreatment of malaria in central and south Asia may be widespread, leading to the neglect of other serious illnesses, according to a new study from Afghanistan," published in the British Medical Journal last month, SciDev.Net reports. "Because malaria in this region is rare and mainly caused by a less dangerous form of the disease ... overtreatment may actually be worse for public health than it is in Africa or South-East Asia," the study says, according to the news service. "Researchers assessed the accuracy of malaria diagnoses and treatment for over 2,300 patients with suspected malaria at 22 clinics in northern and eastern Afghanistan" and "found that a large proportion of patients with negative microscopy slides were still being prescribed antimalarial treatment." "This meant that the real causes of these diseases went untreated," the news service writes, adding, "The findings contradict a common assumption that there is a greater risk of malaria being missed than over diagnosed in this region of low malaria prevalence, compared with Africa or South-East Asia" (Yusufzai, 8/13).