Number of global cases of malaria "doubled"

The number of cases of the deadliest form of malaria in the world could be twice as high as previously predicted, researchers say. According to a team from the University of Oxford http://www.ox.ac.uk , there were over half a billion cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria globally in 2002. This figure is up to 50 per cent higher than previous estimates from the World Health Organisation. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, two thirds of cases occurred in Africa, mostly affecting under-fives. The new figures are 200 per cent higher for areas outside Africa. According to the study, up to 2.2 billion people could be at risk from malaria. The researchers say this could be because the WHO's relying on all centres noting all cases of the disease in countries was less certain a method as the one they used.