Health Ministry Confirms Four Students Died of Severe Malaria in Kampala

The Ministry of Health has confirmed that four students from three Kampala-area schools have died from severe malaria, while assuring the country that there is no evidence of a new or more dangerous strain of the disease circulating in Uganda.

Health Minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi made the announcement before Parliament on Wednesday following growing public concern over the deaths, which involved two students from Makerere College School, one from Mengo Senior School and one from Gayaza High School.

He expressed sympathy to the affected families and school communities, saying the loss of the learners was deeply painful.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Health, I extend our deepest condolences to families, guardians, school communities and fellow learners of the four learners who have lost their lives. No parent should send a child to school and receive news of this nature,” Baryomunsi told Parliament.

The minister stressed that investigations have found no indication of a new malaria parasite or a more aggressive form of the disease. He said Uganda’s routine genomic surveillance continues to show that Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for about 97 percent of malaria infections in the country, remains the dominant strain and has not changed.

According to the ministry, the students died from severe malaria caused by the same parasite that has circulated in Uganda for decades.

Baryomunsi explained that the affected schools are located within the Kampala Metropolitan area, which has historically experienced low malaria transmission. Because children growing up in such areas are exposed to malaria less frequently, many do not develop the natural immunity commonly found in children from high-transmission districts.

He warned that this limited immunity allows the disease to progress rapidly once infection occurs.

“An immunologically naive child can progress from first symptoms to severe malaria, including cerebral malaria and anaemia, within 24 hours and from severe malaria to death within two hours if emergency treatment is not accessed in time,” he said.

The minister also dismissed widespread reports suggesting that a new malaria strain was responsible for the deaths, saying surveillance data does not support those claims.

“Uganda routinely conducts genomic surveillance on circulating malaria parasites. This surveillance has not detected any change in the parasites currently circulating in the country,” he said.

He added that Plasmodium falciparum remains unchanged and continues to account for the overwhelming majority of malaria cases recorded nationwide.

In response to the deaths, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education have established a joint task force to investigate the incidents and assess the burden of malaria among schoolchildren.

Government has also launched confidential investigations at the four affected schools, issued updated malaria prevention and management guidelines to schools across the country, revived school health reporting systems and begun deploying nurses and other health workers to government schools while strengthening emergency referral systems.

The ministry urged parents, schools and health workers to seek immediate medical attention for children who develop malaria symptoms, warning that delays in treatment can quickly lead to life-threatening complications, particularly among children with little or no acquired immunity.