02-02 Malaria

It’s a deadly female mosquito-borne tropical disease that kills about 400,000 people a year, mostly in Africa.
And climate change impacts malaria because it impacts the life of the species of mosquito that carries the parasite. And climate change means changing patterns of rainfall and humidity.
So an area that was relatively free of malaria in the past can suddenly become a disease hot spot. The health professionals of every nation are watching weather patterns and what it means for the shifting patterns of mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite.
I have a vivid memory of my father as a child using a can of kerosene and pouring the oil on the puddles of water that developed in the forested area at our summer cottage after a rainfall. He was trying to kill mosquito larvae.
The chart provides information on the disease that infects up to 200 million people a year. This is a disease that has a serious impact on young children.
And for travelers in areas with malaria, the smart move is to spray a mosquito repellent on the exposed areas of your body and to sleep with a mosquito net.
In fact, one of the ways nations fight malaria is to provide families with mosquito netting. They also advise spraying a repellent on the netting.
I can remember stories of explorers heading into Africa with their own supply of quinine to treat malaria. Today they have better drugs to fight the disease.
And, like the photo, intensive treatment of malaria is taking place in all the areas impacted by malaria. It usually involves a blood test to determine the type of parasite. Then the provision of the appropriate medicine and nets to cover sleeping areas.
Malaria is one of the world’s most serious vector caused diseases. And climate change is going to make it more difficult to control.