Share your thoughts on malaria
Do you have any stories to share about malaria?
Do you think we are doing enough to treat malaria? Should we make it easier to use DDT?
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Yes,I traveled to Papua New Guinea where Malaria is all to common occurance. Our American host contracted Malaria and was down for several days. Symptoms were, headache, body ache, fever, feeling sluggish, etc. Meds helped him recover quickly.
this is very good
I have not but i do know how it really sux to get bitten and if you get coverd by thoes killer bugs then you will die because of the poison they inject into you.
Mosquitoes do not inject poison into their hosts, but they do inject an anti-coagulant - which means it stops the blood from clotting while they are feeding.
I wonder why it itches so much? Because the blood does not coagulate? Still do not like mosquitoes
that is so sad! poor guy!
we went to india where people die of malaria a lot.We had to take malaria piolls everyday twice a day.
so... i wanted to know have people died from malaria...? and if so about how many live and how many survive? what is the ratio to the living and the dead? how can my friends and i help prevent this?
wow... i love ur information.... but malaria seems pretty bad....a friend of mine is really into africa and the prevention of deadly diseases and i dnt think that she knows anything that she could do to try to help prevent or help people get throught these diseases.... do u guys kno?
Is it only from mosquitos that you get malaria from or can you get it from other things too?
Humans can only contract malaria from female Anopheles mosquitoes. Other animals ,such as rodents and bbirds contract forms of malaria from other mosquitoes.
No other insect transmits the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria.
The Anopheles mosquito is the only genus that carries the malaria parasite.
this is comonly known as a bug just being and living his everyday life. let him be alone and he willl live in peace he needs his privacy thnaks for leaving him alone!
If his (actually her) everyday life leads to my getting sick or dying, then no, I will not leave her alone.
I totally agree with you on that!!!!!!!!
trust me. If you ever lived in countries where malaria is common,you would not even dream of leaving a mosquito parasite alone.Especially when you suffer the symptoms and have a GREAT likely hood of death if you are not treated.I totally agree with GENE
it cn also be spread by other isects and other cretures
i dunno, but thats a good question
I was ridinf my bike with my sisters and i screamed because i almost ran over a rabbit in somebodies lawn the rabbit had no scars or nothing it was just lying their...dead. it was during the time we had a lot of misquitos so we just guessed that it was from misquito virus
If you live in the US, etc., it probably died from something else.
Wow you know a-lot about it!! Don't you agree it is just really sad!
It could have died from other causes, such as a heart attack, stroke, or cancer. But, you do have a good point.
malaria is bad ok?
It's not good to get malaria
I don't want to get malaria because it is a very scary thing. Malaria sucks.
I know someone that got malaria. Does that mean i can get it too?
Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person.
Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. On rare occasions malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her fetus before or during delivery ("congenital" malaria).
Malaria is not transmitted from person to person like a cold or the flu. You cannot get malaria from casual contact with malaria-infected people.
So don't worry - you probably won't get malaria from the person you know.
You can find this information and more on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's malaria website.
How do mosquito's get maleria? Is it carried in thier genes like us?
Mosquitoes get malaria from biting someone that is already infected by the malaria parasites. They can than pass it on to others. Malaria is not in our genes, it is a parasite that is transmitted by mosquitoes.
how is the desease transmited other than maskitos?????????????
See Laurie's response (above) to a similar question. People usually get malaria through bites by infected mosquitoes. The disease can also be passed through blood transfusions, organ transplants, or needle sharing. And, much more rarely, sometimes babies are born with malaria to mothers who also have the disease.
how did malaria start in the first place
mosquits are punishment.they make you itch ans they make you sick.
one time my dog scotty got something like dog-malaria from a mosquito or something.poor scotty.
Wear bug spray!!!!
yeah, it doesn't work all the time
yes and no
What does malaria do to you?
I read something on this computer, previously, but I don't understand.
I had it and i still do
I love to learn about blood and a lot of other things to.
i haerd about malaria on TV, it sounds scary
are those mosquitos common around minnesota and wisconsin???????
yes but not malaria spreading ones
i am scared!!!
I think we should do more to prevent it. people are dying worldwide.
So last year i had mallaria. It was a tough experiance for me...every day i have to deal with the permanant scars it left on my heart.. Eventually you learn to deal with it though i guess.
How did you contract malaria? did you go to somewhere like Tanzania?
I had no idea that people in the United States were being so affected by this disease. I am a Sickle Cell Anemia patient and have found that the only positive affect of this disease is that it protects against Malaria, but I had the idea that Malaria was a disease that people dealt with in African countries. I never knew that it was an issue in North America.
It isn't.
Our best friend went to Mexico and when she came back they wouldnt let her donate blood because the part of Mexico she was in was a risk zone for malaria.
How cheap are mosquito nets? How expensive is medication for malaria? Turn it around. . . so simple Prevent mozzie bites.
I think Malaria is horrible, and more should be done to help those who suffer from the disease. I think that too much has been lost to malaria. families, friends, a way of life. all because of those stupid mosquitos.
I completely agree.Mosquitos are parasites and live off other beings by sucking their blood which is terrible and the worst part is that the victim often dies never to recover from the awful symptoms
i think we can do more to treat malaria but i dont know what else we can do it seems that we should work harder though!!
I think great strides are being made in the development of more affordable global health care. I think that Bill and Melinda Gates should be commended for their motivation regarding the issue of global public healthcare. Albeit they are multi-billionaires and seemingly have everything they need, they still seems to have a genuine concern in regards to these global issues. They have established a foundation aiming to aid those suffering from malaria, HIV-AIDS, TB, etc. We need to have more individulals like the Gates', having excessive financial ability yet willing to help those people of the wolrd that have very little.
Even better, let's help grow the African economy so they can have their own Bill Gates, develop their own solutions (which are likely to be better than having someone else impose a solution on them), an free themselves from having to rely on aid from the outside.
Speaking of Bill Gates, he now wants to eliminate malaria completely.
Good luck with that, Gates.
Yeahhhh, malaria is bad.
Know what's worse, and probably more common in Africa?
AIDS.
That's right, AIDS.
Why are we not talking about that instead?
Hm?
I thought your comment was really thought-provoking, so I did some research.
In 2005, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimated that some 24.5 million people in Africa were infected with the AIDS virus, and predicted 2.7 additional infections that year. Some 2 million Africans die each year of the disease. Horrible right?
But malaria IS a bigger burden. In 2003, the World Health Organization found 46,897,420 reported cases of malaria in Africa. But only 22 of Africa's 47 countries supplied data, so you can assume that the true situation is much worse. Even if you only use the reported cases, there are twice as many people suffering from malaria as there are from AIDS.
Malaria is the #4 cause of death for children under age 5 worldwide. (AIDS is the #6 killer.) Malaria disproportionately affects children and pregnant women. And an African child dies of malaria every 30 seconds.
So I don't think that the emphasis on malaria comes from any sort of prudery or unwillingness to face facts about AIDS.
The sad truth is that the two epidemics are fueling each other.
You are committing the syllogistic fallacy of the illicit major. Just because AIDS is important, doesn't mean there aren't other things that are also important. Just because we're talking about malaria and not about AIDS, doesn't mean we think AIDS and other diseases are unimportant.
my life revolved around coming to america with my mom but truned otherwise when my dad felt to this chronic dieases and fell ILL So then I either had to help my dad and stay or go and get education but even thou i wanted to stay my dad insited that i go and then help my country and all this couldve been prevented if we had more up todate hospitals people were more educated about malaria and most of all clean water
I had malaria when I was almost 2. I had lots of seizures and I went into a coma.
We were living in Africa at the time and I almost died. I am thankfull to be alive.
-Greta Swanson
How many people in Africa have malaria?
I have heard many stories from my parents about malaria. I also know for a fact that malaria especially in Africa and places that don't have any cures.
i dont know a lot about malaria but i know i dont want to get it. im always around mosquitos though so it's kind of bad. the only thing i really know is that its really deadly and there are a few people who have died from it. i dont want to be one of those people.
so, i thought that malaria only happened in states of the world were there are very humid temperatures year round and no health care for the citizens, boy was i worng!
you get malaria from misquitos silly! it could be anywhere.
Only in Africa and some other places.
don't use DDTs! don't you know the song, "hey farmers, farmers, put away your DDTs, don't care about spots on my apples, leave me the birds and the bees, please!"
If used in small amounts, and confined mostly indoors, DDT can be a tremendously effective tool for eradicating malaria, while doing very little damage to crops or the environment.
Is there any way that I can help prevent Malaria? Like by getting donations?
Read Laurie's post about fighting malaria. You can help. Part of Laurie's post reads:
I never knew they were so cheap why doesn't everyone donate money? If everyone could just donate $5 it could make such a huge difference!
Here's a video of a reporter who recently went to Africa. He found that private groups are having some success against malaria, partly by bypassing the official government and aid channels.
If you follow Gene's link, you get to Wall Street Journal videos, but you might not find the one he's talking about. It's called "Culprits of disease in West Africa."
What is wrong with DDTs and DEET? Dont they work????? Although they may cause diseases and kill animals so what??? It is not proven that DEET causes diseases. And I would rather live with the guilt of killing a few birds/bees than get malaria and DIE.
DDT is effective when used correctly and sparingly.
DEET isn't a great solution because it requires frequent reapplication for years, and some people don't tolerate it well. (Think about the trouble people have remembering to apply sunscreen, and then imagine having to apply and reapply DEET, without fail, for years and years.)
A vaccine, preferably one that requires only a single dose, given to newborns and conferring protection that lasts for years, is probably the most effective solution. But we don't have such a vaccine yet.
In the meantime, bed nets treated with an insecticide are cheap (by Western standards, anyway) and work reasonably well.
ew. thats really gross.
I want to say that Manuel Elkin Patarroyo from Colombia created a syntethic vaccine aganist malaria disease.
You're right: Manuel Elkin Patarroyo did create a synthetic vaccine against malaria. Clinical trials were done in Gambia, Tanzania, and Thailand, with mixed results.
(This 2004 article, from YaleGlobal online, says that Patarroyo's vaccine, known as SPf66:
Other sources, like this 1999 Guardian article, cite the effectiveness of Patarroyo's vaccine at 30% or so.
Many scientists from all over the world are working on potential malaria vaccines. But even the most promising ones are being tested only on small groups of patients, and they're years away from being readily and cheaply available to the people who need them most.
i have to learn about this disease for a science project!^_~
I would never want to have maleria. So is it only from mosquitoes that you can get maleria from or other insects or animals too?
How do people get this and how can I help?
People get malaria when they're bitten by mosquitoes infected with the malaria parasite.
There is a lot of research going into antimalarial drugs, and possible vaccine treatments, but right now, the best defense against malaria is for people in areas where malaria is prevalent to sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets.
Unfortunately, even though the nets are cheap, they're still too expensive for many people in malarial areas to afford. And THAT'S where you can help: Laurie posted a link to a site that uses donations to purchase bed nets. Think about it, and maybe contribute?
I think it is sad that this kind of stuff happens. We all need to do something!
I believe that everyone in malaria ridden countries should be supplied with mosquito nets for sleeping. WE need to eliminate this disese.
Why can't we eradicate this disease like we did smallpox? It would take much more dwork but who cares?
Work = money.
And malaria isn't a widespread, systemic problem in the weathier nations, so there isn't a lot of incentive to work on the problem.
Lots of people agree with you that it's the right thing to do. Making it happen, though, is the challenge.
Maybe you'll be the one credited with wiping out malaria!
I agree with Dylan from Cedar Falls!
Why cant we infect mosquitoes with something that would kill the malaria in them? Is that possible? If not, we should have leading scientists work on it. Good luck.
Well, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have bred a mosquito that's immune to mouse malaria. That doesn't mean that the mosquitoes will be immune to human malaria, or that we should consider releasing them into the wild.
Introductions of non-native or engineered species often have unintended consequences, so it's important to think them through carefully before acting.
Other researchers at Johns Hopkins have cured malaria-infected mice with a single injection of a drugs based on an ancient Chinese folk remedy. While very, very interesting, this drug isn't ready for human trials yet, either.
www.thenga.org
people who live near the lake should move away because mosquitos are in the lake and they say in the lake to live and when they want blood they just come where you at and bite you leaving disease like malaria and more thats my point of view.
i think we should make a medicene to take so you will not get malaria.
malaria can be deadly {and scarry to} so be careful
What causes Malaria? And if I contract malaia what is the cure?
Is it only misquitoes that can spread maleria
Malaria is primarily transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquitoes. I could not find any information on any other animal or insect that acts as a vector for this disease. In some very rare cases the malaria parasite can be transmitted from person to person by blood transfusion.
Ive been bit by many skitos, no disesa quite yet...THank God
You do not say where you live. Malaria has been eradicated in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and many other parts of the world. This map shows where malaria occurs today.
Even when giving these medications to people in poor countries, the drug companies are still getting a amount of profit off the medicines. Correct me if that was wrong, but if it's right, they should stop the profit and make treatment more affordable.
If drug companies make no profits, they will have no money to produce drugs, or to fund research to make newer, better drugs.
Nobody said they shouldn't make a profit but there isn't any reason for them to charge us more then other countries
Actually, Flameshadowxeroshin specifically said "stop the profit."
Countries that have malaria tend to be poorer, and thus less able to afford drugs. (Which is why some of them are clamoring for safe, effective preventative measures like nets and DDT.) Some people would like to see wealthier countries subsidize anti-malarial drugs for countries that can't afford them.
wow i feel very sorry for the person who died....yea....sorry..
Is Malaria most common in Africa and places like that, or is it common in Canada and the U.S.A?
An earlier comments links to a world-wide distribution map. Malaria is almost never contracted in the US and Canada -- not because of our cooler climate, but because health programs have eradicated the disease.
It is my contention that our overly restrictive environmental policy has decreased the use of chemicals that can kill the mosquitos that carry malaria.
In Malawi, Africa, malaria is the leading cause of death for children under the age of five. The government is encouraging the use of DDT indoors to kill mosquitoes. Tobacco companies oppose the move, worried that it will hurt their crop (which is very important to the Malawi economy).
I'm glad that somebody is finally taking the initiative to work against the mosquitos. DDT is relatively harmless - the outrage against it came mostly from the book "Silent Spring" which turned out to be made up anyways...
yes for the most part ddt is harmless but the truth is that the ddt was getting in to the ground and effecting what ground animals were eating their for when eagles where eating the ground prey. the eagles were having thiner eggs and the the eggs could not stand the high winds and elements for their location and then eagle population droped. whith getting rid of ddt population has up. look it up
National Geographic has a major article on malaria on their website.
When I went to South Africa I had to take Malaria pills. I wasn't in a very popular Malaria area, but I still had to take them. They tasted DISGUSTING!!! Luckily, I didn't get bit, but it was still a good idea.
The End.
You've been a wonderful crowd! Thank you, thank you. Hold the applause.
its scary that insects can pass on such a sickness. i feel bad 4 the people who get it!
This is indeed a scary thing. What are we doing to try and better prevent it and help those who do have it? I find it frightening that so many people are infected.
What are the media doing to increase public empathy for those with malaria?
Every time I read about malaria, it hurts me to think about those poor people in Africa.
Studies find that spraying a home with DDT not only kills mosquitoes, but acts as a repellent, keeping them away. Health officials in Africa, working to fight malaria, have begun using DDT for this purpose.
ddt is poisonus in should not be used at all!!! it is illegal and wrong and against God's will. DUH!! read the bible
All chemical insecticides are poisonous. Without them, we would have no bug sprays. Farmers couldn't grow enough crops to feed the growing world population. Pesticides are far from perfect and far from trouble-free. But a world without pesticides would be a lot less pleasant, and a lot less healthy, than the one we have now.
DDT may be illegal in the US, but then, we no longer have malaria. (Thanks, in part, to DDT.) It is not illegal everywhere.
Not everyone accepts Biblical authority. Many who do interpret Genesis 1:26 as authorizing pest control. While I am no expert, I suspect there would be other passages that justify self-defense (e.g.: killing a mosquito that carries a deadly disease before it kills you).
i once had maleria it was emotionally devastating and my complexion has never been the same. i went thru therapy, my therapist, who is now my bff yeah!!! :)
My father contracted malaria when he was in vietnam. His health continues to deterioirate over the years. I think more needs to be done to help find a permanat cure.
listen i mean read malaria is bad and gross and im outta here1!!!!!!!
my thoughts on this subject are that you spelled the word "Malaria" wrong on the link to this page...(malara) i don't know if i can trust your credibility if you can't even spell the subject correctly...just thought i'd put that out there...
Fixed - thanks for pointing that out. Though I don't know what you can really dispute about malaria - its not like discussing global warming or evolution...
That's true -- a single typo out of hundreds of links obviously disqualifies all information not related to typing.
Mosquitoes suck, pun not intended, and that's that.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I tink malria is stupid. it kills people and is not cool at all. and the things that carry malria are gross. super gross.
I think malaria isn't a good thing because it kills and doesn't do any good for the world. What I think would be good is if we didn't have malaria because then the world would be much happier than it is now.
I believe in the same thing. If we were in a world without malaria less people would be sad and depressed. If there were a cure I would personally give it to the poor people that have the dreaded sickness.
i have no clue wat malaria is!!!!!!!!
Why does malaria kill?
last summer in august i went to south africa with my dad. he is a guide for animal hunters. well while i was there i was bitten by several mosquitoes. it only takes one infected mosquito to infect a person. i must have gotten lucky because three days later i developed symptoms. i was hot with fever and couldn,t get out of bed. then the diahreah began and wouldn't stop. when i got to the hospital i was almost dead. but they saved me and i returned to america.
Are you sure you had malaria? Because according to this site, diarrhea isn't a symptom of malaria. And according to this site, malaria doesn't occur in South Africa.
My question is why not just wear bug spray? It may not prevent all mosquitos, but it will help prevent many of them. If you dont have any buy some or wear long clothes.
because bug spray normally does not help some poeple, as well as the older folk. they don't want to walk around smelling like bug spray! so bugs might not even bug some poeple
I live in South Africa and malaria doesn't affect all parts of the country. People who travel to the Game Parks in the northern part of South Africa need to prevent getting malaria as it can be serious. We know of people who travelled toMozambique who got malaria and its definitely not something you want to get. You can definintely get malaria in South Africa, just not all over.
I am a member of my school's student council, and I started a maleria fund for African children who can't afford bed nets. The fund was successful, and we bought over 20 nets!!
That's great Samuel! Thanks for sharing your success.
I've never had malaria, but that's sad for people who have and died. i hope nobody else ever gets it again.
I don't like getting sick
this is really scary
having recently done a report on malaria, i know alot about it. Outside the U.S, malaria has the highest death toll over all other diseases. Many of these deaths are children under 5 who's parents are not wealthy enough to get the