7 facts about malaria
Know what causes it, how it is transmitted and why 2019 has become a historical year for the disease.
Malaria or malaria is a disease as widespread as it is unknown. The rumors and myths around this have grown over the years, so we offer the following seven facts that will make us better know this disease:
1. Malaria and parasites
Malaria is caused by parasites , which are transmitted by the bites of female Anopheles mosquitoes infected with them, which makes it a disease of very easy and widespread transmission. Among the five types of parasites that cause this disease in humans, the most deadly is known as Plasmodium falciparum .
2. 219 million affected in 2017
This disease is mainly common in sub-Saharan and Hindu lands , despite being present in more than 90 countries. In the year 2017 about 219 million malaria patients were counted . 80% of these cases were registered in 14 different countries in Africa and Southeast Asia .
Nowadays, malaria can be prevented and has an effective treatment. Despite this, in the same year 2017, malaria ended with around 435,000 lives , more than 90% of these resulted in Africa .
3. Two vulnerable groups
The children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to this disease.
In the case of pregnant women , the risk of death due to contraction of the disease increases along with the probability of complications during pregnancy ; among them, abortions, premature births and prenatal death.
In the case of children, children under 5 are especially vulnerable. In 2016, malaria claimed the lives of around 280,000 children , again most of them in African countries. It thus becomes the third cause of infant mortality in the world.
4. Immunity in adults
In countries where malaria is more widespread, adults whose bodies have been infected by the parasite for a long period of time have eventually developed immunity to the disease. This does not protect them completely , but it does offer them protection against the possibility that the disease degenerates into a more serious one.
5. Most common symptoms
The first symptoms of malaria are common and very similar to those of the flu, which makes it difficult to diagnose it first. From the moment in which the bite of the mosquito carrying the parasite occurs, between the next 10 and 15 days , the first symptoms occur. In these early manifestations, the disease ranges from high fevers , headaches , to vomiting , muscle aches and chills . These symptoms must be treated in a short period of time, to prevent them from evolving and worsening to the point of putting the patient's life at risk.
6. The vaccine
After 30 years of research and limited efficacy of 40%, vaccination against malaria begins. In 2015, a pilot program was approved and four years later, on April 24, 2019 , the first large-scale vaccination against this disease began. Initially, around 360,000 children in Malawi, Ghana and Kenya will be initially vaccinated , with a vision to expand and eliminate the disease in the future.
Children become the main group for vaccination , since three thirds of the 435,000 deaths that occurred on account of malaria in 2017 were children under 5 years of age.
7. World Day Against Malaria
On April 25 World Malaria or Malaria Day is celebrated . Day in which the need to prevent, control and reduce the damage of the disease is highlighted.
Source: WHO
0 Comments
Thanks For Massage