Stephen Vreden, chairman of the Malaria Elimination Task Force Suriname, on Friday announced that a woman with a serious form of malaria is currently recovering in the Academic Hospital Paramaribo (AZP). He made it clear that the woman did not contract malaria in Suriname but in another country. The young woman was admitted to the AZP on June 15th. Doctors quickly realized that she suffered from cerebral malaria. “This is very bad news especially given the fact that many people do not survive this form of malaria but we will keep working and fighting,” said Vreden who added that the woman had worked in a mining camp in Venezuela with her partner before returning to Brazil where she was given medication against malaria. It is not clear if the woman used her medication properly. The woman and her partner then traveled to Suriname via neighboring Guyana. They arrived in Nickerie before traveling to Paramaribo. After two days they left for the hinterland. Vreden explained that they only made the problem worse because they visited an area where the mosquitoes could pick up the infection. “This could result in a new spread of malaria in the hinterland. All of the people in the vicinity of the storage reservoir must be screened for malaria,” said Vreden. Marthelise Eersel who is also a member of the Malaria Elimination Task Force Suriname and who is also the acting coordinator of the Malaria Program wants the improvement of the malaria screening at the nation’s borders…[+]