Why should I be worried about getting malaria?
When you are traveling and enjoying yourself, you focus on
all the cool sites you are going to visit and all the new
experiences that you are going to have. Your health might
be the last thing on your mind. However, it would be wise
to be aware of some of the health risks that you might meet.
Some of this information might be a little scientific, but
remember what G.I. Joe said, “Knowing is half the battle”.
Therefore, the more information you have, the better you can
protect yourself against malaria. In addition, you never know
when “Malaria Prevention” might come up as a topic
on Jeopardy.
Previously extremely widespread,
malaria is now mainly confined to
Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The problems of controlling and
preventing malaria in these countries
are aggravated by inadequate health
structures and poor socioeconomic
conditions. The situation has become
even more complex over the last
few years with the increase in resistance
to the drugs normally used to combat
the parasite that causes the disease.
Malaria is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium.
For excellent malaria prevention, you need to make sure that
you are not exposed to any of these four species of Plasmodium
that can produce the disease in its various forms:
- Plasmodium falciparum
- Plasmodium vivax
- Plasmodium ovale
- Plasmodium malaria
P. falciparum is the most widespread and dangerous
of the four types of parasites: untreated it can lead to fatal
cerebral malaria.
Malaria parasites are transmitted from one person to another
by the female anopheline mosquito. The males do not transmit
the disease as they feed only on plant juices. Only 60 or
so of the 380 species of anopheline mosquito are able to transmit
the parasite.
Like all other mosquitoes, the anophelines breed in water,
each species having its preferred breeding sites, feeding
patterns and resting place. Their sensitivity to insecticides
is also highly
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