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...]
Malaria in Vietnam, Thailand, Bali
QUESTION: I am 5 months pregnant and I was thinking about going on holiday to Vietnam, Thailand, or Bali. What is the risk of malaria in this countries? RESPONSE: Malaria transmission occurs in all of the nations you mention, though certain areas within these nations are lower risk. You can find out more about specific regions and local antimalarial resistance patterns at the … [Read more...]
Malaria Fever and Recovery
QUESTION My 21 year old daughter spent 4 months on a study abroad program in Dakar. A week before returning home she started having night fevers and would complain of retrosternal pain and rib and neck and shoulder pain. The next day she would be fine. The episodes came every other day and eventually it occurred to her that it might be malaria. It was evening so she went to a pharmacy for a … [Read more...]
Am I more susceptible to malaria?
QUESTION I contracted common malaria, vivax?, when i was 20 yrs old from long visit to Papua NewGuinea, 1970. Returned to USA and was treated with chloro, primaquine drugs and really no problems since treatment. Now going to Thailand for week, Chiang Mai and region. If bitten by local malarial mosq. am i more likely to recur? And should I certainly choose prophylaxis? thnx ANSWER If … [Read more...]
New Partners Join the Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN)
The Asia Pacific Malaria Elimination Network (APMEN) has announced two new Partner Institutions have joined the organization: The Mahidol Vivax Research Center and the Malaria Research Centre, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. The Mahidol Vivax Research Center (MVRC) established in March 2011 is dedicated to the study of Plasmodium vivax and non falciparum malaria. Its establishment at Mahidol … [Read more...]
Malaria in Thailand: Phrae and Nan
QUESTION We are traveling in Phrae and Nan (in Thailand) in the period of December-Januar. Is there any risk for malaria. We are travelling with kids (9 months, 6 and 8 year) and want to avoid risky areas. Can we travel safely in that region? Thank you for your reply. ANSWER Thanks for your question. Phrae and Nan are two districts in northern Thailand—the latter shares a border … [Read more...]
Malaria in Thailand
QUESTION: I am going to Thailand. Do I need to take Malaria medication there? ANSWER: Like many other countries, that depends on where in Thailand you are planning to go. The country on the whole has been successful in containing malaria, mostly through successful mosquito control initiatives and a great initiative of government-sponsored "malaria clinics" dotted around the country, … [Read more...]
Of Macaques and Men
Plasmodium knowlesi —a new challenge in the Roll Back Malaria Program? Mention of malaria often conjures images of infants hospitalized in Africa. Although most deaths from malaria are children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa, there are many different types of malaria that put over half of the world’s population at risk in subtropical and tropical regions worldwide. There have historically … [Read more...]
Lariam Legacy
In 1990, Lariam (mefloquine) became the drug of choice for malaria prevention. It was endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and prescribed for travelers, government workers, and the U.S. military who were going to regions where malaria was present. It was even given to airline crews who flew to malaria regions. Mefloquine has been responsible for psychotic breakdowns, suicides and … [Read more...]
Soil-Transmitted Helminths and Malaria in Pregnant Women on the Thai-Burmese Border
Background: Deworming is recommended by the WHO in girls and pregnant and lactating women to reduce anaemia in areas where hookworm and anaemia are common. There is conflicting evidence on the harm and the benefits of intestinal geohelminth infections on the incidence and severity of malaria, and consequently on the risks and benefits of deworming in malaria affected populations. We examined … [Read more...]