Institute of Global Health, Medical School, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, School of Medicine, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Malar J. 2022 May 15;21(1):149. doi: 10.1186/s12936-022-04154-1.
The COVID-19 pandemic and its collateral damage severely impact health systems globally and risk to worsen the malaria situation in endemic countries. Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Ghana. This study aims to describe the potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on malaria cases observed in health facilities in the Northern Region of Ghana.
Monthly routine data from the District Health Information Management System II (DHIMS2) of the Northern Region of Ghana were analysed. Overall outpatient department visits (OPD) and malaria case rates from the years 2015-2019 were compared to the corresponding data of the year 2020.
Compared to the corresponding periods of the years 2015-2019, overall visits and malaria cases in paediatric and adult OPDs in northern Ghana decreased in March and April 2020, when major movement and social restrictions were implemented in response to the pandemic. Cases slightly rebounded afterwards in 2020, but stayed below the average of the previous years. Malaria data from inpatient departments showed a similar but more pronounced trend when compared to OPDs. In pregnant women, however, malaria cases in OPDs increased after the first COVID-19 wave.
The findings from this study show that the COVID-19 pandemic affects the malaria burden in health facilities of northern Ghana, with declines in inpatient and outpatient rates except for pregnant women. They may have experienced reduced access to insecticide-treated nets and intermittent preventive malaria treatment in pregnancy, resulting in subsequent higher malaria morbidity. Further data, particularly from community-based studies and ideally complemented by qualitative research, are needed to fully determine the impact of the pandemic on the malaria situation in Africa.
COVID-19 大流行及其附带损害严重影响了全球卫生系统，有可能使疟疾流行国家的疟疾状况恶化。疟疾是加纳发病率和死亡率的主要原因。本研究旨在描述 COVID-19 大流行对加纳北部地区卫生机构观察到的疟疾病例的潜在影响。
分析加纳北部地区地区卫生信息管理系统 II（DHIMS2）的月度常规数据。将 2015-2019 年的总门诊就诊量（OPD）和疟疾发病率与 2020 年的相应数据进行比较。
与 2015-2019 年同期相比，2020 年 3 月和 4 月，当加纳北部为应对大流行实施主要的流动和社会限制时，儿科和成人 OPD 的总就诊量和疟疾病例减少。随后在 2020 年略有反弹，但仍低于前几年的平均水平。与 OPD 相比，住院部门的疟疾数据显示出类似但更为明显的趋势。然而，在孕妇中，OPD 中的疟疾病例在第一波 COVID-19 之后增加。
本研究结果表明，COVID-19 大流行影响了加纳北部卫生机构的疟疾负担，住院和门诊率下降，除孕妇外。他们可能经历了减少使用驱虫蚊帐和间歇性预防疟疾治疗在怀孕期间，导致随后更高的疟疾发病率。需要进一步的数据，特别是来自社区的研究，并理想情况下辅以定性研究，以充分确定大流行对非洲疟疾情况的影响。
