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March 11, 2010
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Katherine Harmon is a freelance writer and contributing editor for Scientific American. Her book Octopus! will be published October 31 from Current/Penguin USA. Follow on Twitter @katherineharmon.
MIAMI—Malaria continues to be a global scourge, sickening some 300 million to 500 million people annually. Most of the resulting one million to three million malaria deaths occur in regions where it is highly endemic, such as sub-Saharan Africa and parts of south Asia.
Some parts of the world where malaria was once rampant, however—such as Central and South America—have seen morbidity and mortality rates of the disease cut in half in the past decade, reported specialists here Wednesday at the 14th annual International Congress on Infectious Diseases in Miami. And areas where it is currently common, including many African countries, might expect eradication in the next decade, according to a report released Monday by the Global Fund, an organization that addresses infectious diseases. New malaria treatment guidelines, published Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), could help achieve that goal by advocating for universal testing of all suspected cases and treatment of confirmed patients with artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), which has gained prominence since the guidelines were first published four years ago.
The Americas appear on their way to becoming a success story in the global battle against the mosquito-borne illness. Twelve years ago, the Roll Back Malaria partnership was launched by several international organizations, including the WHO, with the goal of reducing incidence of the disease 50 percent from 2000 levels (more than one million cases and 300 deaths) by 2010. By 2008, the numbers from Central and South America were already showing a victory, noted Keith Carter, of the Pan-American Health Organization, with a 52 percent drop in the number of cases and 57 percent decrease in deaths.
Despite these promising figures, however, malaria transmission is ongoing in 21 countries in the Americas, he noted. And not all areas have seen a uniform decrease—or a decrease at all. Cases in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Venezuela have actually increased in the same time span.
Even those who live in countries that currently do not have sustained malaria transmission, such as the U.S., are often faced with a health dilemma when traveling abroad. In regions of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa where the dominant malaria parasite is Plasmodium falciparum (considered the most deadly form), travelers often take preventative medication to keep from getting infected in the event they are bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito. But for areas of the world, such as Central and South America, where the more prevalent form is P. vivax (and even that is relatively rare), many experts are hesitant to recommend anti-malarials that might be costly, cumbersome or have unpleasant side effects.
Marcos Boulos, of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, argued that these doctors might be on the right track, noting that foreigners usually stick to cities and are more likely to have better housing and protection from mosquitoes than locals. As he pointed out, even though Brazil has areas of moderate transmission in the Amazon, visitors to Sao Paulo are probably just as likely to catch malaria as they would in New York—that is to say the risk is slim to none.
"There just isn’t much malaria" in the Americas, said Alan Magill, of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md. But, he noted, "unfortunately, that risk is not zero."
Because of that risk—small though it may be in many parts of the world like Central and South America—other experts prefer to err on the side of safety. "It is much better to prevent cases than wait for them to appear," concluded Paul Arguin, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He cited a number of instances of travelers who returned from trips abroad only to develop malaria (which can have an incubation period of weeks or months) in the U.S. where doctors might not be so quick to recognize it. Some 1,400 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with malaria each year (and about five die from it), Arguin noted. About 82 percent of the cases are caused P. vivax, which is not as widely feared as P. falciparum, but, said Arguin, "I wouldn’t characterize it as a totally benign disease."
Image of P. vivax courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/CDC/Steven Glenn
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Why such viruses exist at all? Do they have any benefits for people?
Link to thislighter…they’re just benefiting them selves…propagation…
Link to thiswhen viruses go away ?
Link to thisBrazil Travel Northeast
It is luck of the draw as to whether you are unfortunate enough to contract malaria on your travels. However, by taking some basic precautions such as using a quality mosquito screen, a repellant spray and covering legs and arms especially during the evenings, you can minimise the risk of getting bites.
Malaria is serious, so practicing good food hygiene while on your vacation will keep your immune system strong and healthy so that in the unlikely event you should contract malaria, you have a fighting chance of a better recovery.
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Link to thisBelieve it or not, we need viruses! Insects carry viruses but without insects our world would be totally unsafe for our existence. For instance, some insects act as cleaners, they can clean up a road kill very quickly, thus preventing the further spread of bacteria and disease that could arise from a decaying animal.
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Link to thisMalaria Virus is very alarming. All of us must be aware on how we can prevent this kind of virus. We need to watch out for its causes & prevent it so that we will be safe from acquiring this kind of disease. Thanks for this post. It teaches us to be aware of our health.
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Link to thisMalaria is a blood-borne parasite carried by mosquitoes, which give it to you via a bite. Acquiring malaria virus is very terrifying. However, putting mosquito repellent is a number one prevention method. It diminishes insect bites.
Link to thisExtra careful and putting mosquito repellent will slacken our worries from traveling. Anyway, malaria rates die down so there’s nothing to be scared of. Just to have an extra careful. http://www.suzannedoyleingram.com
Link to thisMalaria is an alarming disease. It could kill one’s life. But according to this article, the rate has been drooped down. Just being careful on travelling will keep us safe like buying insect bite protection.
Link to thisThis is the perfect blog for anyone who wants to know about this topic. You know so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
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Link to thisIt is so frightening to read that Malaria is still taking so many lives! We have Dangy fever here in North Eastern Australia, it is carried by the Dangy Mosquito and can leave people very sick, but is treatable if caught quickly. I am just so astounded that this disease is still killing people so prevalently!
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Thankfully, perhaps, such dire predictions for climate change–not displacement, war or even famine but a nearly wholesale elimination of life of Earth–rest on equally dire forecasts for CO2 levels.
Link to thisMalaria should not be characterized as a benign disease, it’ a treacherous disease! We don’t have to question why travelers are still worrying for this, because they gonna put their lives at stake.
Link to thisMalaria should not be characterized as a benign disease, it’s a treacherous disease!
Travelers will just have an extra care so that, someway, somehow, it will keep them safe.
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Link to thisThis really important. Once Malaria was a dreadful name. Now it has proper cure. But I am surprised to know that travelers are worried about this disease. however, nice posting.
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It’s time to let them know via media that they don’t need to worry. Everything will be okay and for sure, they gonna have a peaceful travel.
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Link to thisMalaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. It is widely spread at tropical countries.
This is very good that you have travel advisory about this because we cannot predict if the mosquito is carrier of malaria or not..
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Link to thisThis blog is nice and amazing. I love your post! It’s also nice to see someone who does a lot of research and has a great knack for writing, which is pretty rare from bloggers these days.
Link to thisThanks!
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