My Weakness After Treating Malaria

My Weakness After Treating Malaria Dear Dr, I have been feeling funny and not myself for some time now. In reality, I treated malaria some time before this when I was given some Co-artem by the doctor but was allowed to go use Chloroquine at the full dose because I told the doctor I do not like Co-artem. I feel weak, fragile and listless; wanting to get back to sleep or rest shortly after getting up in the morning. What is the matter and what can I do? Helen Jane Sahleh, Potiskum, Adamawa Dear Helen, Half-treated malaria can make anyone anaemic very, very quickly and that spectre stares you and many of us in the face at this very moment among our people and so, your question is a very great question. The WHO (World Health Organisation) has given directives on how to treat malaria effectively but not everyone among the populace – even among doctors have been able to fully comply with the new recommendations. But first, what is the cause of the change in recommendations? Precisely because the bugs that cause malaria, Plasmodium genus, have become resistant to the monotherapies we were using before the change was recommended. Everyone knows about Chloroquine; my generation grew up on it. But Chloroquine or other monotherapies are now no use to treat malaria effectively. The bugs are now resistant to all that. You cannot use just one drug to get the better of malaria; you will fail and that is exactly what happened to you. Even though you used the full dose of Chloroquine as your anti-malarial you fell short of the mark and have been ill ever since because your malaria was only half –treated. What should you do? Follow the new guidelines by WHO. And these are that There must be two medicines working together to fight malaria for you and of the two, ARTEMISININ must be one. So, you have ARTEMISININE BASED COMBINATION (ABC) therapy. People as well as doctors must swear by this. Allowing a patient to use the old methods and medicines against malaria is not good medicine. But then, even at that, a lot of people complain of the same things you complained of because some of the combinations they used appear weak. There are combination anti-malarials in the market, though, that are very effective and I will let you know these as you request by e mail or call. Half treated as well as untreated malaria cause anaemia by bursting your red blood cells and draining your blood. Malaria must be treated effectively and once this is done you do not feel sick at all in any manner for at least 28 days after treatment; no matter how many mosquitoes bite you. You will definitely need to treat anaemia (with blood tonics) along as you treat malaria this time. Cheers