Bite Back Malaria!
Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused by parasites transmitted to humans through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. Once an infected mosquito bites a human and transmits the parasites, those parasites multiply in the host’s liver before infecting and destroying red blood cells.
Causes
Malaria is caused by the bites from the female Anopheles mosquito, which then infects the body with the parasite Plasmodium. This is the only mosquito that can cause malaria.
The successful development of the parasite within the mosquito depends on several factors, the most important being humidity and ambient temperatures.
Symptoms
Symptoms of malaria can begin as early as six to eight days after a bite by an infected mosquito. They include:
- High fever (up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit) with shaking chills
- Profuse sweating when the fever suddenly drops
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Muscle aches
- Abdominal discomfort
- Nausea, vomiting
- Feeling faint when you stand up or sit up quickly
Prevention
Researchers are working to create a vaccine against malaria. Vaccination is expected to become an important tool to prevent malaria in the future.
One way to prevent malaria is to avoid mosquito bites with the following strategies:
- As much as possible, stay indoors in well-screened areas, especially at night when mosquitoes are most active.
- Use mosquito nets and bed nets. It’s best to treat the nets with the insect repellant permethrin.
- Wear clothing that covers most of your body.
- Use an insect repellent that contains DEET or picaridin. These repellents are applied directly to your skin, except around your mouth and eyes. If you choose a picaridin-based repellant, you will need to reapply it every several hours.
- Apply permethrin to clothing.
Did you know ?
In April, 2017
World Health Organization (WHO) announced it would be launching a new program to vaccinate 750,000 toddlers against malaria in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi in 2018. The vaccine known as RTS,S or Mosquirix. It is the only vaccine developed against malaria that has successfully made it to the large scale testing.
While RTS,S does not promise full protection against the mosquito-borne disease, it is the most effective potential vaccine so far developed reducing the number of people being hospitalised and blood transfusions.
The word “malaria” means “bad air”.
In the 18th century people thought that malaria was caused from breathing in bad air in marshy areas. In 1880 scientists discovered that this was not true, but the name stuck.
Malaria is most commonly found in Africa and parts of Southeast Asia.
Mosquitoes thrive in tropical and subtropical climates, so countries that are near the equator are more at risk.
Malaria can pass from human to human.
You cannot “catch” malaria like you can a cold, but people can pass it on by sharing needles, blood transfusions and through pregnancy.
Malaria infects an average of 200 million people each year.
Up to 1 million of these 200 million will die every year. Of malaria deaths, 90 percent occur in Africa. In Africa one child dies from malaria every minute.
Mortality rates are falling.
Since 2000, malaria mortality rates have fallen by 42 percent globally.There is a promising vaccine currently being tested.
While there is currently no vaccine on the market to prevent against malaria, there is one being tested via clinical trial in seven African countries with positive results.
