Reading 1

Unit 2- Reading 1

Page 18

THE BATTLE AGAINST MALARIA

Malaria is a serious health problem. It is a leading cause of death in many countries. it occurs mostly in tropical and subtropical parts of the world, including parts of Africa, Asia, South America, Central America, and the Middle East. The place most intensely affected by malaria is Africa south of the Sahara Desert. About 60% of the world’s malaria cases and 90% of malaria deaths occur there. Even though the causes of malaria in this region are well understood, international health agencies are finding that controlling it is still an enormous and difficult task.

THE MALARIA CYCLE

Malaria is passed from mosquitoes to people and from people to mosquitoes in a cycle of events that repeats over and over. The malaria cycle begins with tiny parasites. These parasites reside in the bodies of Anopheles mosquitoes. These deadly parasites cause malaria. When a female mosquito bites a human, the mosquito draws off blood. It also leaves malaria parasites in the human’s skin.

These parasites quickly multiply inside the human and cause the individual to feel sick. if another mosquito bites a human who is sick with malaria, parasites from the human enter the body of the mosquito. When that mosquito bites another human, it will leave parasites in the other human’s skin. In the malaria cycle, humans get parasites from mosquitoes and humans also give parasites to mosquitoes.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE NEEDED

Becoming infected with malaria is a medical emergency. The first symptoms— or signs—of malaria are fever, chills, sweating, intense headache, and muscle pains. Nausea and vomiting often accompany these symptoms. Immediate medical treatment must be a priority for people who are infected. They must take medicines that will kill the parasites. If medical treatment is started soon enough, sick individuals can be cured. if it is not, malaria can cause serious illness or even death.

ONE WAY TO CONTROL MALARIA

Malaria in tropical Africa could be controlled in two ways. First, it could be controlled by killing the parasites that cause the illness. If every infected person quickly took malaria medicine, most would be well in a few days.

Mosquitoes could not get malaria parasites from healthy individuals, so malaria would not spread. Unfortunately, many people live in far-away villages without access to quick medical care. Another problem is that the ability of quinine (the primary medicine used against malaria) to kill parasites has declined over time. There is hope, however, for new drug combinations. One, called ACT, is being used successfully to treat people who have malaria.

ANOTHER WAY TO CONTROL MALARIA

Malaria could also be controlled by stopping the mosquitoes. One way would be to get rid of the I pools of water where they lay their eggs. Also, insecticide could be sprayed in wet areas and around buildings to kill mosquitoes. Finally, people could be told to sleep under bed nets to prevent mosquitoes from biting them at night. Bed nets sprayed with insecticide would both stop and kill mosquitoes.

PROBLEMS FACING CONTROL

It is very difficult, however, to implement these plans. People in this region are poor—and made poorer by malaria because they may be too weak to work. They so cannot afford to pay for medical care or to buy bed nets. Some people may be unwilling to cooperate with government efforts to help them. Their old beliefs about illness may conflict with modern attempts to cure or prevent malaria.

There are other problems, too. Health ministries may not have the money to build clinics or hire trained medical practitioners. They may not have the money to buy insect poisons and pay a labor force to spray regularly. And the frequent rainfall in tropical and subtropical regions would make it impossible to get rid of pools of water where mosquitoes lay eggs.

A recent discovery by medical scientists may offer a solution to many of these problems. In 2009, the Ministry of Health in Senegal arranged for scientists to so visit three villages. A tropical illness called “river blindness” was common in these villages. The people were given the medicine ivermectin to treat it. Two weeks after the people had taken the medicine, the scientists found many dead mosquitoes.

They discovered that when a mosquito bit a person who had recently taken ivermectin, the mosquito died. It was poisoned by the medicine in the person’s blood. Now scientists wonder if malaria could be controlled by implementing a program to give this medicine to people every month. They need to find out if taking ivermectin every month will be safe. They also are waiting to see if there will be a decline in malaria cases in these villages. If it is safe and effective, this medicine could help stop the spread of malaria in sub—Saharan Africa.