MALARIA

Malaria Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted from the bites of mosquitos. The parasite infects the liver and red blood cells causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma or death.

Cause The cause of malaria is due to a vector, a mosquito in this case, carrying the virus and its agents inside of itself, then as a result of biting a human being and extracting blood, the human’s blood is infected with the virus.

Location The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a broad band around the equator, including the majority of Sub- Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Mortality The world health organization in 2010, estimated that 216 million people were infected with the virus Malaria, 655,000 of them dying in the same year. The disease still kills more children under the age of 5 than any other disease or illness.

Signs/Symptoms of Malaria Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may also occur. The signs of malaria usually start to show up approximately 8 – 25 days after infection. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells.

Urgent medical intervention If not treated, malaria can quickly become life- threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.

Anti-malarial drugs Travelers who visit malarial locations should avoid mosquito bites and take anti-malarial medications. Sadly many of the medications are becoming ineffective as the parasites have developed resistance.

Vaccination???? Although no official vaccine has been developed for medicinal and clinical use, many agencies and joint scientific researchers are at the forefront of producing a vaccine strong enough to kill the malaria virus in a human.

Prevention Mosquito eradication Limiting breading areas of stagnant water Avoid outdoor activities around dusk Wear loose, long, light-colored clothing Don’t wear perfumes, colognes or aftershave Use mosquito coils and plug-in vaporizes Try to avoid getting bitten by mosquitos Pregnant women should avoid malarial areas Sleep under insecticide treated nets

Insecticide treated nets

Home management of Malaria in Zambia People from the community are trained as health workers. Training can take up to six months and they can receive a small salary. Workers are taught how to improve the monitoring of malaria and how to conduct rapid diagnostic testing. Pre packaged malaria treatments are distributed to those who have tested positive.

Sustainable Human Development How can malaria programs impact the following……. Health? Human development? Sustainability (social, economic and environmental)? Read page 492-493 of your text.

Insecticide-treated bed nets Got to the weblink ‘insecticide-treated bed nets’ in your eBook PLUS and complete Q6 pg. 493