Malaria
Malaria is a disease that is spread by mosquitos. The symptoms of malaria include a fever, sweats and chills, headaches, vomiting and diarrhoea. It can kill, especially children. Many adults infected with malaria become too weak to work and earn money to support themselves.
Malaria is usually found between the An important line of latitude located at 23.5° north of the Equator. in the north and the An important line of latitude located at 23.5° south of the Equator. in the south.
In 2000 there were 262 million cases of malaria worldwide and 839, 000 people died from the disease.
By 2019 these numbers had been reduced. The infection rate had fallen a little to 229 million cases. The number of deaths from malaria had fallen by more than half to 409, 000.
There is no vaccine for the pathogen that causes malaria. The fight against malaria concentrates on preventing the disease from spreading. This is done by targeting people who might become infected, and the mosquitos that spread the disease:
Targeting people:
- provide drugs, eg A medicine used to both prevent and treat malaria. that prevent infection and treat symptoms
- encourage use of insect repellents which help prevent being bitten by mosquitoes
- educating people to avoid being bitten by covering arms and legs after dusk, and not wearing dark clothes that attact mosquitoes
- using A fine veil treated with chemicals and draped around a bed to prevent mosquitoes biting at night. over beds to prevent being bitten while sleeping
Targeting mosquitoes:
- insecticides kill mosquitoes
- draining puddles, pools and other stagnant water that are The areas where mosquitoes lay their eggs. for mosquitoes
- Process which involves the artificial transfer of genetic information from one donor cell or organism to another. to sterilise male mosquitoes to reduce insect numbers