US graduate student dies after contracting malaria on Ghana visit

A second year student of the Graduate School of Business (GSB), Stanford has died following a bout of malaria he contracted during a visit to Ghana about three weeks ago.

According to the Stanford Daily, Roanak Desai died on Saturday of malaria he likely contracted during a trip to Ghana.

It said Desai visited Ghana with a group of friends from the GSB in mid-March, and he was believed to have contracted malaria, his former roommate, Pierre Djian was quoted as saying.

He was reported to have visited Egypt and Lebanon before returning to the US.

The report said, while he was in Lebanon he sought medical help when he fell ill, but the doctor in Lebanon was reported to have told him that he was suffering from the effects of heat exposure during his trips to Ghana and Egypt.

But he continued to feel ill when he went to London on his way to the US. In London, a doctor who examined him, determined that he was suffering from malaria. He however, continued his trip to the US despite feeling ill.

During the trip, he became so ill that the plane was forced to land halfway through the trip. He was taken to a hospital in Maine, where he died, the report said.

In February 2010 an American woman was reported to have sued a hospital for failing to diagnose her properly after she was later amputated when she suffered the severe side effects of malaria.

The Chicago Tribune reported that, the woman, 34-year-old Dawn Dubsky got down with malaria after visiting Ghana. Her arms and legs were amputated as a result of the disease.

She came to Ghana in February 2008 and came down with malaria after she was bitten by a vector carrying mosquito.

She was not taking anti-malarial drugs at the time, it added.

Malaria is endemic in Ghana and it is the leading cause of death in infants.

In December 2009 more than 10,000 malaria cases were expected to be reported in the country’s health facilities with about 60 of them expected to result in infant mortality, according to an advocacy group Voices for a Malaria-free Future (VfMfF).

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

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  1. Patrick says

    Its rather unfortunate . For most people in this part of the world malaria is just like a cold i am definitely sure that more than 10,000 people contact malaria every year in ghana.Most of us know what the symptoms are and take the necessary medication after seeing the doctor.

  2. Verna says

    I was sad to hear of the student’s death. I am an American who lived in West Africa for 6 years. I took my medication weekly and listened very respectfully to people who instructed me about health precautions in the environment. I find most of my fellow Americans to be rather inclined to ignore information which seems trivial to them. Living in a different environment requires you to be able to be both flexible and attentive. We all know that your entire life can drastically change in less than 48 hours!

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