WORLD MALARIA DAY: Invest in the future, defeat malaria

What is Malaria?

Courtesy JM Lifesavers Foundation

 Malaria is an illness caused by a parasite (Plasmodium species). This parasite is carried in the saliva of infected mosquitoes and is introduced to the human blood when an infected mosquito sucks our blood.  Most mosquitoes feed on fruit and nectar, but the female Anopheles mosquito also feeds on blood. Its is during this human blood meal that we get infected. 

Facts and figures

• 219 million cases worldwide yearly
• 660,000 deaths yearly due to malaria worldwide
• According to the Lagos state ministry f health, Nigeria, 60% of visits to the out patient clinics  and 30% of hospital admissions in Nigeria is due to malaria 
• The National Malaria control Department, Nigeria says Nigeria loses an estimated N480 billion from loss of man hours  due to malaria-related absenteeism from work, schools, farms and markets.

Tops 6 African countries with Malaria

1. Nigeria
2. Congo Democratic Republic
3. Tanzania
4. Uganda
5. Mozambique
6. Ivory coast 

How do you know you have malaria?

Some people assume they have malaria when they have any of the following: bitter taste in the mouth, darkening of urine. These are unreliable because there are many other illnesses can give the same symptoms. The symptoms of malaria are nonspecific and  include fever, chills, headache, sweats, body pains, joint pain, fatigue, nausea (feeling like vomiting) and vomiting. Others include abdominal pain, swelling, yellowness of the eyes etc. More symptoms can be added t this list if other complications arise and they depend on which organ in the body is affected. 

What Illnesses can one mistake for malaria?

1. Typhoid fever
2. Meningitis
3. Influenza
4. Pneumonia
5. Respiratory tract infection (common cold)
6. Ear infections (Otitis media)
7. Pelvic inflammatory Disease (genital infection commonly referred to, euphemistically, by many women as "Toilet infection" by many women)
8. Urinary Tract Infection  (UTI)
9. Tuberculosis
10. Yellow fever
11. Hepatitis

How Do you differentiate these illnesses from Malaria?

Simple! Take a blood test!!!
There are different types and methods but the most reliable method uses a microscope to look at your blood, identify and count the malaria parasites.
there are quicker est methods which take less than 5 minutes to conduct. They are easy to conduct and can be done by anyone. You don't need a medical degree to do this test but yo need some level of training in hygiene and safety as well as how to carry out the test because blood and needles/ sharps are potentially hazardous and need to be handled carefully and disposed of properly.

Prevention

Malaria prevention involves 3 main strategies:

   1. Prevention of Mosquito bites 

• Installation of window nets, sleeping under insecticide treated mosquito nets, wearing long sleeve shirts and trousers as from pm till morning which is the time that the mosquito is most active and feeds, are all ways of preventing mosquitoes from biting you. This can drammatically reduce the frequency at which someone suffers from malaria.

   2. Elimination of mosquitoes

       This can be done in a number of ways:

• Use of Insecticides: Fumigating your compound  nd inside your house periodically with insecticides, or using insecticides in your rooms at night/ in the evening, bu be sure to leave the room for at least 15 -30 minutes after spraying to avoid the poisonous effects of insecticides.
• Sanitation: Ensuring all gutters are clean, clear, empty and dry so mosquitoes have no breeding ground or hiding place, and emptying or turning all containers in your compound upside-down so they cannot accumulate water, which is where mosquito eggs are laid. 

   3. Use of preventive medications

• This is mainly for people who live in an place where malaria is not common and are travelling to an area where malaria is common. They would require malaria preventive medication (prophylaxis). These drugs  include doxicycline, malarone, chloroquine and mefloquine

• Also, pregnant women living in  place with high levels of malaria require malaria preventive medication fansidar (suphadoxine + pyrimethamine combination for pregnant women) but please consult a doctor before you try any of these drugs

Conclusion

Malaria represents a huge health challenge for the world. It has a negative global impact and requires a positive global response. Awareness and prevention are key tools in halting its morbidity and mortality. It all starts with you. What can you to stop this childhood killer? If you have no answer then you are contributing to the scourge of malaria and not in the fight against it. Find a way to help today. Invest in the future by defeating malaria, today.

Invest in the future, defeat malaria.