Malaria Socio-Economic Issues

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QUESTION

What are the socio-economic issues on the spread of malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria transmission requires the presence of Anopheles mosquitoes; as such, conditions which favor the growth and persistence of these mosquitoes will also be hotspots for malaria transmission, provided the climate is also sufficiently warm for the development of the parasite within the mosquito.

Rural areas without sophisticated water and sanitation systems often utilize streams or ponds for everyday water needs; if these produce stagnant patches of water, they can be an ideal location for the development of mosquito larvae.

Similarly, if rural farmers dig canals or ditches to irrigate their fields, these can become breeding areas. Urban areas tend to have less standing water, apart from cisterns, so in many cases transmission is less prevalent in urbanized locations.

As a further socio-economic factor, preventing mosquitoes from entering the house and biting people is  key way to prevent infection. Rich people in malarial areas may be more able to have fully screened houses, possibly even with air-conditioning, which will prevent mosquitoes from establishing in the house. They may also be more likely to have access to a long-lasting insecticide treated bednet, which further reduces mosquito bites, and also access to accurate diagnostic screening and treatment, if they do happen to get infected.

All of these factors contribute to making malaria burden highest in some of the world’s poorest areas, with the highest levels of mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

Typhoid and Malaria

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QUESTION:

Since i was suffering with fever for 5 days I consulted a doctor, have undergone blood test, and got typhoid as positive, but the treatment didn’t work. I was tested for malaria and result was positive. Ii’ve been given chloroquine for three days and primaquine for 28 days. After chloroquine was completed I started using primaquine. During this time I got fever and I got typhoid positive. My question is though iI’ve been treated for typhoid before malaria is conformed why it has come again?

ANSWER:

Typhoid and malaria are very different illnesses, caused by different disease organisms. Typhoid is caused by a Salmonella bacterium, whereas malaria is caused by single-celled animals, called protozoa, of the genus Plasmodium.

Typhoid is usually transmitted by eating food or drinking water which has been contaminated by sewage or handled by someone else with typhoid fever. It is usually treated with antibiotics; however, these antibiotics do not prevent re-infection with the disease. The best way to prevent re-infection is through washing food thoroughly in clean (boiled) water and by washing hands regularly, especially after going to the bathroom. There is also a vaccine against typhoid which you can get which will prevent further re-infection. As such, if you think you have typhoid again, you will need to visit your doctor again for more treatment, as it is unrelated to your malaria infection (apart that you might have been weakened by one infection, leaving you more susceptible to a second disease). While at the doctor, you should also have another test for malaria to ensure that the treatment was successful.