QUESTION Where is malaria found? ANSWER Malaria is found throughout the world's tropical and sub-tropical areas, and mainly in Central and South America, Africa, Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. It is most common in tropical regions, where transmission occurs year-round; in sub-tropical and temperate areas, transmission may only occur during seasons that have appropriate climatic … [Read more...]
Repellent for Malaria Mosquitos
QUESTION My daughter is leaving for Africa for 5 weeks on a mission trip. Is there a repellent that can be used to ward off these infected mosquitos? Also what can she do to stay safe and protected? ANSWER There is no way of warding off only those mosquitoes that are infected with malaria. However, insect repellents which contain DEET (10% or higher) are the most effective against the … [Read more...]
Malaria Locations in Africa
QUESTION: Where in Africa is malaria mainly found? ANSWER: The distribution of malaria is constrained by two main factors: temperature and the presence of suitable mosquito hosts. These mosquitoes also depend on certain climatic conditions for their development, namely warm temperatures and sufficient rainfall to produce stagnant water, required by mosquito larvae. As such, although most … [Read more...]
Illness from Uganda trip
QUESTION: I just came back from a visit to Uganda Africa. I was unable to take Malarone as I had bad side effects. Vomiting. I was only exposed once when we walked into a swampy rain forest. This of-course was the only day I did not have repellent. We were taking the kids on a nature walk and the German volunteer got a little lost. I ran as fast as could out of the area. Started to feel tired … [Read more...]
Can of Worms: Travel Parasites to Know About
Malaria isn’t the only parasite you need to think about when you travel In my last post, I shared some of the misguided myths about malaria that I had heard while hanging out with the tourists on Zanzibar. Then, in the in-flight magazine on the internal flight between Dar and Mwanza (my flight was over an hour late…hence how the airline, Precision Air, earned its local nickname: “Imprecision … [Read more...]
Over-Treating Malaria in Africa
Prescribing malaria medication to patients who don’t need it wastes precious resources in a country already dealing with drug shortages. It leaves patients untreated for the real cause of their sickness. And it can lead to drug resistance, making malaria parasites harder to eliminate when people really do contract the disease. So why do health workers ignore negative test results? … [Read more...]
Nigeria Government May Ban Mono-Therapy Malaria Drugs
Nigeria's Federal Government has hinted that in the near future, it would ban all mono-therapy drugs used in malaria treatment in Nigeria as they are no longer effective following resistance of the drugs by Nigerians. The Minister of Health, Professor Oyebuchi Chukwu dropped the hint during a dinner with journalists held in Lagos. The dinner was part of activities commemorating World Malaria … [Read more...]
The Dominant Anopheles Vectors of Human Malaria in Africa, Europe and the Middle East
Full Title The Dominant Anopheles Vectors of Human Malaria in Africa, Europe and the Middle East: Occurrence Data, dDstribution Maps and Bionomic Précis Background This is the second in a series of three articles documenting the geographical distribution of 41 dominant vector species (DVS) of human malaria. The first paper addressed the DVS of the Americas and the third will consider those … [Read more...]