Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that lives both in mosquitoes and humans; Wikipedia defines malaria as a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. However malaria to me is a nightmare, it is scary as hell, very frustrating and intimidating disease that puts you down. In my village malaria is a disease that is common during rainy season due to presence of stagnant water which is a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
My first experience with malaria was at age 12. I remember missing school due to being hospitalized for about two weeks. Quinine drip was the drug of choice during that time, the side effects of this medication was worse than the effects of malaria. I personally call it a night mare disease because I remember the scary dreams I had during my malaria attack, I was hallucinating and I did not want my mother to turn off the lights at night, I wanted her to hold me tight and even though I would almost fall asleep I didn’t want to close my eyes. To this date I will do anything to prevent myself from this number one killer disease in Africa.
The symptoms of malaria were described in ancient Chinese medical writings but the word ‘Malaria’ was not yet in use. In 2700 BC, several characteristic symptoms of what would later be named malaria were described in the Nei Ching, The Canon of Medicine. ‘Malaria’ became widely recognized in Greece by the 4th century BCE, and it was responsible for the decline of many of the city-state populations. Hippocrates noted the principal symptoms. By the age of Pericles, there were extensive references to ‘malaria’ in literature an...
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...he best anti malarial medication before travelling, use mosquito nets at all times when sleeping, and to seek early treatment if infected. Malaria unlike HIV/AIDS is curable.
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In modern medicine when an ailment arises it can be quickly diagnosed, attributed to a precise bacteria, virus, or body system, and treated with medication, surgery or therapy. During the time before rational medical thought, this streamlined system of treatment was unheard of, and all complaints were attributed to the will of the multitude of commonly worshiped Greek gods (Greek Medicine 1). It was during the period of Greek rationalism that a perceptible change in thought was manifested in the attitudes towards treating disease. Ancient Greece is often associated with its many brilliant philosophers, and these great thinkers were some of the first innovators to make major developments in astrology, physics, math and even medicine. Among these academics was Hippocrates, one of the first e...
Before discussing how disease has shaped history and altered cultures, it is important to understand how they themselves have developed and changed throughout history. Disease, in the broadest definition of the word, has been present since the beginning of humanity. Even ...
Although he lived four centuries before the birth of Christ, a man named Hippocrates recorded the symptoms of diseases we still see to this day. Known as the “Father of Medicine” (Hippocrates), Hippocrates was an ancient physician who studied and recorded his observances of the body’s infections and physiology. He set forth the foundation for future physicians, and in doing so, is accredited for our knowledge of infectious diseases in earlier centuries. During this time however, many believed the earth and its inhabitants were composed of four general elements: air, water, fire, and dirt. They also believed that any one person who fell ill was being punished by the gods. As a foresighted thinker though, Hippocrates encouraged the idea that humans became ill due to natural causes. In that wisdom, he recorded all his observances of his patients and their illnesses, taking careful note of the bodily symptoms and their progression.
Vaccine safety is one of the most controversial topics in today’s public discourse. Everyone has heard of them, but few know why they are so encouraged. A vaccine contains a weak or dead version of a microbe. This creates a small scale invasion of the immune system, which activates cells to destroy the microbe. Once these cells have been made they are always there to provide protection. This protection is immunity, for those cells are then able to recognize any live version of the same microbe and attack it immediately. This can save lives but also be dangerous, vaccines carry many other components which can cause side effects. These could be simple adverse effects such as a small cold or, in the rare case,
Plasmodium Falciparum is the causative parasite of malignant malaria, it is the most deadly strain of the malaria viruses. P. Falciparum is a eukaryotic protozoan parasite that is spread through vector transmission using mosquitoes. The Anopheles mosquito family accounts for the majority of transmission because of their tendency to target humans (WHO, 2014). Malaria accounts for approximately five hundred thousand deaths each year in environments such as sub-Saharan Africa and other temperate areas where the life cycle of the mosquito is longer allowing the parasite to develop properly (WHO, 2014). Malaria usually infects children in these areas but also commonly spreads to travellers to these areas.
In likeness to Aids, the malaria virus can be in your body for up to
In Nigeria the use of the community in furthering the prevention of malaria had a positive impartation of administering drugs as well as tents to the citizens. As of 2010 Malawi’s efforts of prevention and treatment of malaria in pregnant women made positive goals more than half of their citizens underwent preventative utilizations such as nets as well as doses. Both countries exhibited strategic plans of making the impact of malaria less in its citizens, addressing malaria in pregnant women living in malaria-endemic countries have been of particular interest to many National Malaria Control Programs because of the reduced immunity in pregnancy, many case studies have been conducted over the years. The control of Malaria still remains a prevalent issue in the 45 countries in Africa where it is considered and endemic, Nigeria being among the 45 inhibiting over 500 million at
Malaria (also called biduoterian fever, blackwater fever, falciparum malaria, plasmodium, Quartan malaria, and tertian malaria) is one of the most infectious and most common diseases in the world. This serious, sometimes-fatal disease is caused by a parasite that is carried by a certain species of mosquito called the Anopheles. It claims more lives every year than any other transmissible disease except tuberculosis. Every year, five hundred million adults and children (around nine percent of the world’s population) contract the disease and of these, one hundred million people die. Children are more susceptible to the disease than adults, and in Africa, where ninety percent of the world’s cases occur and where eighty percent of the cases are treated at home, one in twenty children die of the disease before they reach the age of five. Pregnant women are also more vulnerable to disease and in certain parts of Africa, they are four times as likely to contract the disease and only half as likely to survive it.
Malaria is a disease that is in the blood; it comes from the plasmodium parasite. Malaria is carried from a mosquito to person then it spreads from person to person. (Kar,N) There are over a hundred species with malaria parasite that are highly populated in Africa these parasites are called Plasmodium falciparum. (Kar,N) when a parasite gets into a humans system it finds its way in the liver where it creates approximately ten thousand more. (Kar,N) Female mosquitos transmit malaria. (Kar,N) Two weeks in the body parasite move into the blood stream where it starts messing up the red blood cells. (Kar,N) It usually takes 10 days to four weeks after
Cover up after dark and use personal insecticide, mosquito nets , window screens, anti-malarial drugs to prevent the disease, which need to be taken prior to travel to affect countries
Hippocrates was a Greek physician that left a legacy that existed during his lifetime in Classical Greece and continues today. His moral and ethical standards were the foundation of his teachings, along with his meticulous writings concerning the study of the human body. He firmly believed that poor health and disease were the result of a natural process that could be discovered and cured through careful clinical reasoning and observations. Hippocrates travelled throughout Greece teaching and describing disease symptoms, and taught doctors how to analyze and treat specific illnesses or diseases. Hippocrates’s accomplishments give him the respect from doctors and medical professionals around the world that continues even today.
To the majority of the population in the United States, malaria feels more like a myth than a threat. Vaccinations and medicine targeting the disease are reserved for the venturesome travelers who dare to enter malaria-endemic regions. Unfortunately, for 3.2 billion people across 106 countries and territories--malaria is a very real threat, and often times fatal. Typically, malaria is found in warmer regions around the equator. However, some areas are hit harder than most. Of the 214 million clinical cases of malaria and 438,000 deaths from the disease in 2015, 88% of the cases and 90% of the deaths were from Sub-Saharan Africa. Much of these deaths could have been easily preventable with modern medicine; but unfortunately, most of those who
This disease affects Africa more than any other place in the world, and it affects children more than any other age group of people. Every 9 out of 10 deaths from malaria occur in Africa, equaling about 528,000 deaths. Every minute, one child in Africa dies from this parasitic disease. Several
As the centuries unrolled and new civilizations appeared, cultural, artistic, and medical developments shifted toward the new centers of power. A reversal of the traditional search for botanical drugs occurred in Greece in the fourth century BC, when Hippocrates (estimated dates, 460-377 BC), the "Father of Medicine," became interested in inorganic salts as medications.
Depending on the number of parasites and the type of parasites, the type of malaria can now be determined. Antimalarials with specific infectivity suppressive action such as derivatives of artemisinin and primaquine can be prescribed to reduce malaria transmission at all intensities. For falciparum malaria, which is very lethal, the patient should be referred to a larger facility for aggressive therapy as well as parenteral antimalarials or quinine derivative malaria drugs and supportive care (Bloland & Williams, 2003, p. 57).