Bulawayo safe from malaria

THE BULAWAYO City health department says the heavy rains that recently pounded the city have assisted in disrupting the breeding cycles of mosquitos, which makes the city safe from malaria.

City health director Edwin Sibanda told Southern Eye yesterday that they did not expect Bulawayo to be inundated with malaria cases after the heavy rains.

However, the department advised residents to clean their pool areas, which they said were good breeding grounds for mosquitos.

"We do not expect to record a rise in malaria cases because their breeding cycle has been washed away by the rains," Sibanda said.

"We only expect to have serious cases of malaria once the rains stop around April or May," he said.

Meanwhile, Matabeleland North provincial medical director Munekayi Padingani said the districts that were affected by malaria were Binga and Hwange.

He, however, did not give statistics.

"We have recorded cases of malaria this year and we deployed indoor residual spraying in Binga and Hwange districts.

"We also did mosquito net distribution in different provinces,'' Padingani said.

Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, shaking chills, headaches, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Malaria may also cause anaemia and jaundice (yellow colouring of the skin and eyes) because of loss of red blood cells.