Malari Its Impact On African Communities Essay

Malaria is a very contagious parasite transmitted through mosquitoes to humans. Those at risk are individuals living in areas conducive to the breeding of mosquitoes, especially those that allow the mosquitoes to complete their growth cycle. Everyone is at risk

Malaria has been in existence for thousands of years. Many historical records show that it has affected human civilization greatly by plaguing and causing mass death. The earliest record can be traced back to 2700 BC in China (Cox, 2002). It has been long associated with swamps and insects for hundreds of years but often believed to be the air from swamps causing the plague. The term malaria rooted from two Italian words ‘mala’ and ‘aria’ which literally means bad air. Humanity did not know the true nature of the long thought disease until 1894 when a Scottish physician, Sir Ronald Ross, discovered that it was actually the parasite in mosquito that is causing the malaria.

Malaria is an ancient disease caused by parasites in the genus Plasmodium. Mosquitoes infected with a malaria parasite have been found preserved in approximately 30-million-year-old amber (Mehlhorn, et al.), and the malaria antigen has been detected in the tissues of Egyptian remains dating back to 3200 BC (Miller, et al.). There are many examples where malaria epidemics have had a significant impact on human history, and this is especially evident during the many wars throughout history. As far back as the fourth century A.D., Attila the Hun’s invasion of Rome was stopped because of malaria (Kakkilaya). During the Revolutionary War, malaria helped the Americans win their independence because many of the British armies were too sick to fight (McNiell). During World War I, British, French, German, and American armies were unable to fight because of malaria (Kakkilaya). A French commanding general when ordered to attack was reported to have replied, “Regret that my army is in hospital with malaria” (Kakkilaya). In World War II, early during the Pacific campaign, more soldiers fell to malaria than to enemy (“Institute of Medicine”). Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA) was founded in 1942 to control malaria near military training bases in the United States ("Our History - Our Story"). After World War II, MCWA went on to become the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Because the South was where most malaria transmission occurred and was where the MCWA had been

Malaria has been a major life-threatening disease for thousands of years, and continues to threaten millions of lives around the world. It infects approximately 219 million people each year, mostly poor women and children. What is striking about malaria is the fact that it has the worse effect on those with the least ability to fight the disease. The Republic of Cuba believes that malaria prevention, treatment, and research efforts must be accelerated to eliminate the burden of this disease across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and any country or territory at risk of malaria transmissions.

Brian, G, Y., Greenwood, D, A., Fidock, Dennis, E, K., Stefan, H, I. Kappe, P., Alonso, L., Frank, H and Collins, P (2008) “Malaria progress and prospects for eradication.” Journal Clinical Investiment. 118: 1266-1276.

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

Background - Malaria is a water borne disease. It is spread by a parasite-carrying mosquito. It kills many people and reduces a country 's capacity to develop. There are different strategies to combat malaria. Around half the population is at risk of malaria and this disease is active in 106 counties across Africa, Asian and the Americas (see source 3). the global annual mortality from malaria is between 1.5 - 3 million deaths, or between 4000 and 8000 each day. Developing countries are most vulnerable to Malaria and as shown on source 2 Malaria has been spread across many various other countries including in Europe, but these countries have eradicated Malaria.

First of all, an increase in the use of insecticide-treated bed nets has reduced malaria. Approximately 60% of children under age five and 55% of pregnant women now sleep under mosquito nets, up from only 9 per cent in 2001. Nearly 3 million nets were retreated with insecticide in 2005. In addition, treatments for malaria are becoming more accessible. The Malawi Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Control Program has been able to scale up the distribution of artemisinin-based combination therapies and intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women. Because of all the prevention efforts and treatments, the incidence of Malaria has decreased over time. For example, Malaria incidence in 2015 was 386 per 1000 population representing a 20% reduction from 484 per 1000 in 2010. Also, the number of deaths due to Malaria has lessened from 5.6% to 3.4% in 2004 and 2009. Eventually, malaria will no longer one of the biggest killers in

Moreover, when examining the intersection between the medical impacts of malaria on the human and the social consequences, a vicious cycle is revealed in which the body, the community, and the economy are all similarly impacted by the presence of malaria in a

There have been many attempts at preventing malaria, none of which have been very successful. These have usually involved protecting human beings from mosquitoes, the dreaded carriers

Ninety percent of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, which is the location and region of where this issue affects. In a concentrated effort to treat malaria since 2000, 700 million cases have been stopped in Africa, bringing the number of cases down by almost fifty percent. This pleasant news is the result of human interaction. Since the introduction of bed nets, malaria death rates have dropped by sixty percent, saving six million lives. All this progress has to be credited to the scientists who got notified by their respective countries when deaths constantly occur in a certain area through communication. Shortly after getting notified, the researchers travel to sub-Saharan Africa, which requires movement, to analyze the situation

"About Malaria." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. .

Malaria has significant direct and indirect costs, and has recently been shown to be a major constraint to economic development. Annual economic growth in countries with high malaria transmission has historically been lower than in countries without malaria.

Malaria is a detriment to the country of Africa and after much research I have found a plethora of information on the malaria epidemic on Africa and how truly devastating it is. Throughout this research paper I will touch on everything related to malaria in Africa including economic to personal problems that may relate to the state of the country. In the first paragraph I will go into depth on when this outbreak began and the whereabouts of its origin. Also If anyone is to blame for this horrid plague like virus that has spread throughout many poor countries life africa. Then I will dive into more in depth issues connecting malaria to the conditions in Africa.

About 3.3 billion people, that is about half of the world’s population are at risk of contracting malaria (figure 1). Every year there are 250 million cases of malaria, and nearly 1 million deaths. That amounts to 2,732 deaths per day. Out of those million people that die every year, 800,000 of them are African children under the age of 5. To control malaria three actions need to be taken: insecticides need to be used to decrease the vector population, people have to be educated as to how to prevent the vector from reproducing, and anti-malarial drugs need to be distributed. To understand the vector and what the vector is, scientists had to first discover what the parasite was and how it worked. It was not until the year 1880 that French Physician Charles Laveran discovered that Malaria was caused by a protozoan in the genus Plasmodium (Malaria, 2013)