The Pros And Consequences Of 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

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) is functioning with GlaxoSmithKline Biologically to develop a first-generation vaccine candidate, known as RTSS, which could become the first-ever approved malaria vaccine. With the new contribution announced today, MVI will support the development of next-generation vaccines that could provide even superior and longer-lasting protection.

Malaria is a disease that has wrought history since the dawn of time itself. It has conquered some of the mightiest warlords in history including Tutankhamen, Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan. The earliest records of malaria symptoms date back to 2700 BCE, first described in the Nei Ching, an ancient Chinese medical script. The Chinese described the prominent symptoms of malaria, discussing the connection between recurring fevers and enlarged spleens. In 1550 BCE the Ebers Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian medical script, mentioned patients suffering from fevers, shivering, vomiting, convulsions and also enlarged spleens. In 600 BCE records of malaria-like fevers rampant in Mesopotamia were found documented on cuneiform tablets. By 400 BCE the symptoms of malaria became widely recognizable in Ancient Greece, where malaria was held responsible for huge population declines in large cities and states. Hippocrates, traditionally regarded as the father of modern medicine, documented the main symptoms of malaria and made extensive notes in the literature of the time. He was also the first to recognise the relationship between occurrences of fevers and close proximity to stagnant waters. The Romans also discovered this connection between fevers and swampy marshes and notably pioneered the first preventative efforts against malaria by draining these swamps. Thus from the medieval Italian language the term ‘malaria’ was coined: mala aria –

I began the research because I had been interesting in studying malaria, how it is transmitted and since moving to the United States I have reviewed the literature on Malaria impact in Nigeria and other African nations. I also remember malaria being prevalent while I was growing up in Nigeria, but I didn’t view it as a problem then and my community did not push malaria awareness.

Malaria is a disease whose effects can be felt worldwide. Not only does the disease touch adults, unfortunately the major population affected by the disease is children under the age of 5yrs old and pregnant women. Malaria is the third largest killer of children worldwide. The number of malaria related deaths per years has decreased through the years however the number of deaths is extremely high and can be drastically lowered or even diminished completely with the right resources. These resources have proven to be available and successful in some particularly wealthy areas of the world, yet malaria is still very prevalent and fatal in others. The question is why? What roles does government play in this international issue? What steps can

According to the health and environment, Malaria is a universal contagious disease and also a tremendous social complication all around the world, especially in South Asia, and Africa. Approximately, 3 billion of the community are in danger of infection in 109 regions. Every year, there is a prediction of 250 million compacts of miasm prominent to 1 million annihilations, particularly adolescents under 5 years old. The structure that causes the greatest unhealthy form of paludism is a imperceptible parasite that is known as the “Plasmodium falciparum”.

Malaria is a preventable disease transmitted by a female anopheles mosquito that has a global annual death impact of over one million mainly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa (Patricia Schlagenhauf-Lawlor, & Funk-Baumann, M., 2005, pg. 6)(1). Although malaria is almost unheard of in developed countries like the United States, in the early 1900s malaria was just as prevalent as it is in sub-Saharan Africa today. The United States has eradicated local malaria due to increased finances and physician led public health missions in the 1940’s in the form of the DDT campaign(Humphries, 2001, pg. 2). However, in underdeveloped countries mainly located in tropical areas, the death toll to malaria continues to rise due to challenges and barriers between accumulating hefty finances, adequate resources and delivering affective outreach programs( Jennifer Kates, Michaud, J., Wexler, A., Valentine, A., 2013)(3).

The United Nations has declared 2000-2010 the "decade to roll back malaria." The social, economic and human effects of this disease are dramatic: 40% of the world's population is currently at risk for malaria, and it kills an African child every 30 seconds(7). The presence of malaria, as that of most other endemic tropical diseases, is directly related to the precarious living conditions of people in developing countries, but is also a cause that hinders growth and development, "In Africa today, malaria is understood to be both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty." (6). This essay aims to show the connections between disease and society in specific regards to malaria, as well as the need for a

Why is the problem in the society? Parasites are organisms that cannot live on their own and have to live off other organisms. They have to enter a host organism and benefit from them while harming them in the process. Mosquitoes are the major modes of transmission of malaria since they feed on human blood and get infected and then spread the infection to others who get bitten. And since neither parasites not mosquitos can be taken out of a community, malaria continues to be a problem in society. The problem exists in the society because while a way has been found to treat infected individuals, a way has not yet been found to fully eliminate the disease (Noviyanti R., Coutrier F, Utami R. (2015)). A vaccine

Vaccines are crucial components to put an end to Malaria. The process of eradicating Malaria starts with studying Plasmodium falciparum. People have supportedthe efforts of trying to decrease the intensity of the disease, but if malaria vaccines are to be used as part of a tool for the eradication of malaria, they will need to have an impact on malaria transmission. They’ve brought us the concept of “vaccines that stops malaria transmission”.Transmission-blocking vaccines target the sexual and mosquito stages but also the asexual stage vaccines that have an effect on transmission.Vaccines have also been useful for sustained control of diseases.

Effective malaria treatment is fraught with challenges. Resistance is seemingly around the corner for every previously superlative drug, while being deeply entrenched among those medications that a few decades ago were vital to chemotherapy. For artemisinin, the first signs of resistance were observed in a 2008 study of parasite clearance times following monotherapy with artesunate. Clearance was slower among patients from the Eastern Thai-Cambodian border than that of patients from the Thai-Myanmar border to the West (Dondorp et al., 2009). Though an alarming fact on its own, when coupled with the proportional increase of such slow-clearing infections from 0.6% in 2001 to 20% in 2010 with rates approaching 42% in Cambodia one must conclude that there is cause for alarm (Flannery et al., 2013). Resistance is not only emerging but also spreading.

Despite the information that has been presented, data shows that malaria infection and mortality rates have been decreasing worldwide for several years. The number of patient deaths due to malaria has decreased by 47% in the last ten years. Since 2000, infection prevalence in children 2-10 years old dropped from 26% to 14% and total prevalence fell from 173 million to 128 million worldwide (WHO, 2014). A goal the Gates Foundation has had since 2007 is the eradication of malaria and the decreasing mortality rates has been partly due to their support of research for and prevention of malaria (Gates, 2014).

Foremost, the importance of vaccines has long been ignored in the developing world. 3 million people still die from vaccine-preventable diseases each year, finds the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  (Global Immunization: Worldwide Disease Incidence).  Vaccines have the potential to preclude most of these deaths and save millions of people. Case in point, Paul Wilson, Assistant Professor of Public Health at Columbia University, argued that, “wider use of available vaccines could help avert a further two million deaths annually in children under five years,” (2).  Additional aspects of vaccines in the developing world are their availability and coverage. Rebecca Casey, of the Global Immunization Division of the CDC, concurred that it is to be expected, that major discrepancies in vaccine coverage exist between first and third world countries, even though third world countries would see the most benefits with wider vaccine coverage (1270).  This imbalance of coverage between regions leaves millions of people vulnerable to hazardous diseases they have no defense against, without vaccines.

The successful treatment of malaria infections solely dependent upon the use of the most effective anti-malaria drugs to eradicated the parasite from the individual 's blood. The treatments differ for complicated and uncomplicated infections. The greatest obstacle healthcare workers face is the increased resistance of the Plasmodium parasite to drug therapy. The Plasmodium falciform species has become increasingly resistant in the regions affect by the strain (1).

The most advanced vaccine candidate against Plasmodium falciparum is RTS.S/AS01. This vaccine has shown 51% efficacy in reducing all episodes of clinical malaria in infants aged 5-17 months over 15 months in a phase 2 trial in Kenya. Based on the current trial schedule, the phase 3 trial data (expected in late 2012) required in order for WHO to consider making a policy recommendation is expected to be made available to WHO in early 2015.11