Malaria in a Malaria-free country

It has taken me almost two years to become sufficiently knowledgeable about all the symptoms of Malaria. But I have recently been educated...while in a country that is malaria-free.

While still making nice in Nice, one of my brood came down with what began as chills - which I am guilty to admit were dismissed as "it's cold in the apartment...it's warmer outside". We were stepping out to enjoy one of those balmy European summer evenings and to be honest did not give her complaints a second thought.

Dinner would have been great; had we managed to finish it...unfortunately it had to be abandoned as the younger of my brood was falling asleep and the one with the chills had in the and a half space of one hour gone from "chilly" to burning up. With our hastily wrapped lamb - which was roasted to perfection and which we'd had to wait for for almost forty-five minutes, we tried to see if we could spot an open pharmacy. Not much success given that it was around 10pm by this time.

I decided I would cool her down, monitor and if it continued, the hospital would be our next stop. Long story short, come morning - sleep deprived and a nervous wreck because I had spent a good part of the night reading up in all the symptoms of malaria, the different types of parasites that can infect and the best course of action - I had managed to convince myself it was indeed Malaria; she did after all have almost two-thirds of the symptons.

My husband was at the hospital by eight am the following morning, waiting for blood test results with the "chilly" one. Blood tests, which he was told were unneccessary because what we had was a case of gastro.

Coming from Ghana and being all too aware of how misdiagnosed Malaria is in malaria-free countries, he had insisted, hence the ensuing two hour wait for the results; as they now decided to run a whole battery of tests, now that they had been informed that we hailed from the 'tropics'. He was keeping me updated with text messages at this point but in between the updates I was now imagining her being hospitalised and hooked up to drips as they tried to rid her of whatever parasite she had.

It was indeed gastro, and with prescriptions for anti-bacterial, rehydrating solutions etc she was sent home.

All this drama got me thinking as to how un-informed I was up until that moment. Living in a country where Malaria is one of the biggest killers - I should have been more clear on the symptoms, but the fact is in Ghana, every degree rise in temperature is treated as a potential malaria case - my children have had numerous blood tests ran on them, from slight fevers to lethargic behaviour - but in France I need to see all the symptoms before I can be convinced.

Now that I am fully versed in Malaria-symptoms and treatment options, here is a brief list of clinics that will do blood test and give you results in less than an hour.

• Akai House Clinics:

-First Floor, Akai House, Third Road, Osu. (0302) 763 822/3
-6 Circular Road, Cantonments. (0302) 784 772/3

• Total House Clinic 25 Liberia Road, North Ridge. (0302) 663 826

Best advise is if you live in a country with Malaria, or have visited one - even if it may have been years before...treat it like a suspect or make it a part of your medical history.