Malaria Essay

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What is malaria?
Malaria is a fatal disease that is caused by an infected mosquito that feeds on human blood. By its contact with humans, when feeding, the infected mosquito can transfer the parasite into human body thus causing malaria (Center of disease control and prevention, 2014). The parasite is called Plasmodium and it multiplies rapidly in the liver and then in red blood cells of an infected person and it causes symptoms like the flu, such as a high fever, chills, and muscle pain (CDC, 2014). There are four types of human malaria: Plasmodium vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. falciparum. (WHO, Online Q&A, 2014). It’s predominantly found in countries like Africa, Southern Asia, Central America, and South America (WHO, 2014). “Falciparum malaria—the most deadly type—is most common in sub-Saharan Africa, where it causes nearly a million deaths a year” (WHO website, 2014).
Malaria is known to be among one of the very old diseases among humans. Malaria or a disease resembling malaria has been noted for more than 4,000 years (CDC, 2014). A brief glance into history provided by CDC (2014) tells that the symptoms of malaria were described in ancient Chinese medical writings. “In 2700 BC, several characteristic symptoms of what would later be named malaria were described in the Nei Ching, The Canon of Medicine” ( CDC, 2014).
Why target Malaria?
According to CDC, in 2010 an estimated 219 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide and 660,000 people died, most (91%) in the African Region (Center for disease control and prevention, 2011). Approximately 1,500–2,000 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year and the vast majority of cases among them are in travelers and immigrants returning from countries where m...

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...vent malaria instead of otherwise non-available vaccine. Therefore there is a need for commitment to combat and eradicate malaria.

REFERENCE:
Center of disease control and prevention website http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/faqs.html
Lifesaver Blog http://www.lifesaversystems.com/_blog/LIFESAVER_Blog/post/world-malaria-day/
Louis, Maryse (April, 2012) . “Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, but for how long?” retrieved from: http://blogs.worldbank.org/health/psd/malaria-is-a-preventable-and-treatable-disease-but-for-how-long
Malaria no more website http://www.malarianomore.org/pages/what-is-malaria
Malaria Consortium website: http://www.malariaconsortium.org/pages/112.htm
Malariavaccine.org frequently asked questions website: http://www.malariavaccine.org/malvac-vaccine-faqs.php
World health organization website http://www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/

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