Basic Malaria Information
Up until now, you might have thought of mosquitoes as merely
the nuisance at your last barbeque. Maybe you have heard of
a case of West Nile Virus in your area. But did you know that
mosquitoes could do more harm than buzzing around your head
or causing an itchy, red bite? You can get malaria from mosquitoes.
Malaria is a potentially deadly disease.
All that has to happen to you to get it is to be bitten by
a mosquito that carries malaria. Imagine how many times in
your life that you have already been bitten by a mosquito.
If you are traveling to one of the areas listed below, you
need to be worried about contracting malaria.
| Parts of Central and South America, Hispaniola (Haiti
and the Dominican Republic), Africa, the Indian subcontinent,
Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Oceania |
How do you know if you have contracted malaria? If you have
any of the following symptoms, it would be wise for you to
see a doctor: fever and flu-like illness, including shaking
chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting,
and/or diarrhea may also occur. Imagine being in away from
home and feeling as if you have a really bad case of the flu.
At the very least, it would definitely put a damper on your
trip.
Eventually, malaria can cause anemia and jaundice (yellow
coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red
blood cells. Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium
falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney
failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.
Malaria is a lot more common than you might think. Approximately
300 million people worldwide are affected by malaria and between
one and 1.5 million people die from it every year; most are
children. Think about that, over a million people die every
year from malaria. Become informed, take preventative measures
and you can avoid this disease.
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