Each year, World Malaria Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the current status of the fight against malaria. We are in the middle year of the World Malaria Day theme of “Invest in the Future. Defeat Malaria," which is set to last until 2015. Funding for malaria control and prevention, as with all international public health endeavors, has always been perceived as a critical issue, but … [Read more...]
Should I Be Checked for Malaria After Returning from India?
Question: I just arrived home to Canada from India on Saturday evening . During my 3 week stay, I was in Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Solan and Shimla. While in Delhi my first week there I must have had about 500 or more mosquito bites on my arms, legs, face, even my back sides etc even though I was using mosquito cream (Odomos I think itw as called) and had a repellent plugged in all the … [Read more...]
Ranbaxy Drug Synriam Receives Indian Government Approval to Treat Plasmodium Vivax
Single treatment for both Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria Permission received to conduct Phase III clinical trials for pediatric formulation Gurgaon, India,: Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (Ranbaxy) today announced that the company has received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Government of India to manufacture and market Synriam … [Read more...]
Discovery of Malaria
QUESTION How was malaria discovered? ANSWER Malaria has long been known to human populations from across the world. In fact, the first mention of the symptoms of malaria comes from an ancient Chinese manuscript from 2700 BCE! However, the actual cause and mechanism of transmission of the disease was only discovered in the 19th century. It was Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, a French … [Read more...]
Sterilizing Mosquitoes to Fight Malaria
QUESTION Is it possible to breed mosquitoes in the laboratory and then sterilize them and release them into the environment in order to reduce their rate of reproducing. ANSWER That is a very good question, and indeed efforts to genetically modify mosquitoes in order to control the various diseases they transmit are underway in many laboratories across the world. For almost 15 years, … [Read more...]
Distribution of Malaria
QUESTION Where does malaria mostly take place? ANSWER Malaria is mainly transmitted in tropical regions of the world; while some transmission does occur outside of the tropics, it tends to be seasonal in these areas (i.e. usually only during periods of high temperature/high rainfall). Within the tropics, malaria is found on all continents, though the highest number of cases is in Africa, … [Read more...]
What does the goverment do to help malaria?
QUESTION Does the goverment help malaria? ANSWER Many governments around the world assist in controlling malaria. Some countries, like Australia and the United States, used to have malaria transmission occur within their own borders, but through dedicated control programs, have managed to eradicate the disease locally. In these cases, the government coordinated huge programs of draining … [Read more...]
Frequent Fever
QUESTION I live in Mumbai,India. My mother's age is 56. She is getting fever from last 1 month and also lost her appetite. We have tested for malaria but it is negative. Tried 4-5 doctors but no one is able to detect the exact cause. She feels better for 3-4 days after medication but then again gets a fever. She feels like vomiting while trying to eat something. Please help. ANSWER If the … [Read more...]
Annual Blood Examination Rate in Bengal
QUESTION What is the annual blood examination rate in West Bengal? ANSWER The annual blood examination rate (ABER) is a measure of the level of diagnostic monitoring activity. Data from 2007 suggested the ABER in West Bengal was around 5%, which is well below the level of 10% which is recommended for active surveillance and is the target of the National Vector Borne Disease Control … [Read more...]
Treatment of Malaria in India
QUESTION In India how to treat a child and adult suffering from malaria? ANSWER Chloroquine-resistant malaria has been observed in India and so the first line drug of choice should be an artemisinin-derivative in combination with another drug (this group of medications are more generally known as "artemisinin-based combination therapies" or ACTs). A common example of this is artemether in … [Read more...]