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MalariaJuly 19, 2007
Malaria is a terrible disease that affects hundreds of thousands of children and adults in the African continent, India, China, and portions of other countries. Unfortunately, the disease primarily affects very poor, underdeveloped areas. In these places, no one has the money to make an effort to stop the spread of malaria. Subsequently, the disease is becoming more and more common. Each year, it kills one to three million people, the majority being age five and younger.
Malaria is caused by protozoa called Plasmodia and is transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. A mosquito becomes a vector by biting a human who already has the disease. The Plasmodia multiply inside the mosquito’s stomach, and some make their way to the saliva where they are transferred, through the next bite, to a human. The Plasmodia invade the human liver cells and reproduce inside of them. Eventually the liver cells rupture, releasing many Plasmodia. Each of these new Plasmodia invades a human red blood cell. Once again, they multiply inside the red blood cell. Finally, these cells burst, releasing even more Plasmodia into the blood stream. These can then infect a mosquito that bites this person and repeat the cycle over and over again.
The symptoms of malaria include light headedness, shortness of breath, muscular pain, fever of up to 106° F, chills, nausea and in severe cases; coma and even death. These symptoms occur when the red blood cells burst and release the Plasmodia. This occurs about once every 48-72 hours, depending on the type of malarial infection. The symptoms last for two hours or more, but cease eventually, only to be followed by another attack. In most cases, the victim becomes weaker and weaker after each attack. If the disease is left untreated, the patient eventually dies. In some rare cases, the attacks gradually decrease in intensity and ultimately stop without any treatment.
In 1995, the World Health Organization began a campaign to try to completely eliminate malaria. They promoted a pesticide called dichloro diphenyl trichloresethare (DDT). The campaign was affective in Sri Lanka and Ceylon, bringing Sri Lanka’s death rate from 2.2% from malaria to 0.8%. Malaria was completely wiped out in many places when the population of DDT resistant mosquitoes began to rise. Malaria came back strong. Now, scientists are taking a new approach to malaria. They are attempting to use “genetic interference” to create a new species of mosquito. They are hoping that these newly engineered mosquitoes will reproduce more than the Anopheles mosquito and eventually wipe them out. Scientists are also trying to create a vaccine for malaria. Hopefully, this destructive problem will be solved soon before it kills millions more and deepens the poverty that is already present in so many regions.
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