state the conditions responsible for the spread of malaria and measures to prevent and control it
Answers
Welcome to Unit 8 on the prevention and control of Malaria. In the last unit we discussed how to manage malaria in pregnancy. In this unit we shall learn about the various ways of preventing and controlling this disease.
Human efforts at controlling malaria dates back many years during the early Grecian and Roman times. This continued right through to 1930 when Mussolini did extensive work aimed at malaria control. In 1899 Ross’s anti larvae measures were introduced in Sierra Leone and later in 1902 he started an anti mosquito campaign in Somalia. Other notable developments were those by Le Prince who started a large-scale demonstration of mosquito control in Cuba, and later together with Gorgas, an anti mosquito campaign in Panama canal zone.
Since then a lot more has taken place. In the 1970s measures to immunize humans against P. falciparum and P. vivax were introduced. At the moment there is massive renewed interest in malaria activities following the world declaration on the control of malaria by the Ministerial conference held in Amsterdam in October 1992. This Renewed interest is further attested by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Initiatives which is a partnership approach to malaria control. RBM movement was launched in 1998 as joint initiative between WHO, UNICEF UNDP and the World Bank. RBM promises to halve the World’s malaria burden by the year 2010.
How malaria is spread
The parasite is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected female Anopheles species mosquitoes.
The parasites multiply in the liver and the bloodstream of the infected person. The parasite may be taken up by another mosquito when it bites an infected person. The mosquito is then infected for the duration of its life and can infect other humans when it bites them.
Occasionally malaria is transmitted by blood transfusion. For this reason, people who have travelled to countries where malaria occurs may be deferred from giving blood for a short period. Malaria can also be transmitted from a mother to her fetus.
Malaria occurs in most tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world, including: