This remains a major killer disease. A recent study in Ghana found that the average person could expect to be bitten by a mosquito approximately 2000 times each year. Of these bites a minimum of 100 will be malarial. At least 2 million people die each year as a direct result of malaria (of which one million are children) and the weakness brought on by recurrent bouts is a major factor in the death of many more. It is estimated that at least half the children currently living on the continent of Africa are afflicted by a minimum of one serious bout of malaria before their third birthday. Research recently released in Sierra Leone show that more children have died as a direct result of malaria than from the violence associated with the civil war.

Up to 30 percent of the 960,000 deaths attributable to malaria in Africa each year occur in countries beset by conflict, war or natural disasters, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported. A number of organisations which work in emergency situations gathered recently at WHO headquarters in Geneva. They discussed ways of trying to improve the action plan for malaria control response during and following emergencies. The Global Partnership to Roll Back Malaria has set a goal of halving malaria deaths world-wide in ten years. Partners include national governments, the WHO, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, and bilateral development agencies

The Anopheles mosquito spreads the disease (see diagram) There are government programmes to control malaria and everyone must be aware of how they can prevent the spread of this killer disease.

Young people can help by preventing mosquitoes from breeding and biting people and by knowing what to do when someone has malaria.

Malaria: some important facts

The germ, which causes malaria, is called Plasmodium and is carried by the female Anopheles mosquito. Other mosquitoes do not carry malaria but they may carry other diseases. An Anopheles mosquito can pick up the Plasmodium germ by biting people who have malaria. The germ develops inside the mosquitoes and then the mosquito can pass it on to another person. When a female Anopheles mosquito bites a person, the malarial germ enters the person’s blood. It then moves into the liver and back out into the bloodstream. When this happens the person begins to feel unwell. They will develop:

· a fever – that is a high temperature

· sweating

· shivering

· a headache

· diarrhoea

The fever will go away but it may keep coming back and may get worse each time it reappears. Treatment is essential, or the person may become very ill. Children are particularly at risk from malaria.

Anyone suffering from malaria should try to get to a health centre. At a centre they will be asked to give a small sample of their blood. Looking at it under a microscope the health centre will test the blood sample. The health worker will be looking for the Plasmodium germ in the blood. The more a person has been bitten the more likely they are to have malaria.

Can we do something to reduce the risk of catching malaria?

Yes, we can but we must try to stop the Anopheles mosquito from biting us. There are several ways of doing this. These are:

· making it difficult for them to get near you – keep windows shut or screened, especially at night. Try to keep your doors shut, or covered by a material that does not allow the mosquito to enter the house or room.

· Using nets – though these cost money they do help prevent the spread of malaria. If you follow some simple rules you can reduce the chance of catching malaria. These are: put the net over the bed before it gets dark at night. Tuck the net into the bed and carefully check that no gaps have appeared. Regularly repair your net. Some nets are sprayed with a chemical that mosquitoes do not like. These are more expensive but are even better at keeping the mosquitoes away from you. BUT remember that mosquitoes can bite you through your net and mosquitoes stay around until after sunrise, so don’t come out from underneath your net just because it is getting light.

· Wearing clothes that make it more difficult for mosquitoes to bite you. Mosquitoes see you as a something that is hotter in some parts of your body than in others. Your ‘hot spots’ are where your blood passes close to the surface of your skin. So, try to be covered by say a blanket or cloth around your neck, your elbows and your ankles.

· Using mosquito coils – these also help but again think of where you are most at risk and put the coils near to your ankles. Let the smoke the coil gives off spread around your room.

· Using a repellent, which are expensive but also help keep mosquitoes away from you. Once again put them close to your ankles, elbows and necks and they will give you more protection.

Some governments spray areas with chemicals to try and reduce the mosquito population. The insecticide falls onto the walls of buildings and any mosquito landing on it will die.

How can we prevent mosquitoes breeding?

There are things we can do but we must keep doing them. We can:

· put stones and earth into holes and puddles that are near our house

· put small fish into ponds and ditches that are near to where we live

· put oil on the surface of small ponds and ditches that are near to where we live

· cover water pots and containers with cloth

· put special chemicals into latrines/toilets

What to do if a child look to have malaria

A child who appears to have what we call the symptoms of malaria needs to see someone who can help them - quickly. They must be taken to a health or medical centre. There they will be given a medicine called Cholorquine. It might also be called; Malariaquin, Nivaquine or Resoquin. In some places other medicines will be available –they all work to help cure the child, so don’t worry. You must take the correct dose and use all of the medicine, or you might not get better. Some medicines do not taste very nice but they must be swallowed. Children suffering from the sweats that often appear, as part of malaria need to be kept cool but not cold. Putting cold water on a cloth and applying it to their head can help this. Sometimes the child might start to shiver. But don’t put too many clothes or blankets on a child with a high fever during the shivering stage of an attack of malaria, for this is dangerous. Medicines like paracetamol can help reduce temperature but only take the recommended dose. Taking too many paracetamol tablets can be very dangerous. When a child sweats it loses body liquids and therefore should be made to drink more. As soon as they feel able to eat again give them some food that helps build their strength (later in the series we will be giving advice on diet and nutritious food)

Normal doses of chloroquine to treat malaria.

Age First Day Second Day Third Day

First dose about 6 hours

after

Less than

One year old ½ ½ ¼ ¼

1-3 years of age 1 ¾ ½ ½

4-6 years of age 2 1 ½ ½

7-11 years of age 2 1 1 1

Small 12-15 year

old 3 1 ½ 1 1

Large 12-15 year

old 4 2 2 2

These are the recommended numbers of tablets containing 300mg-chloroquine base.

Next time: Let’s pretend to be scientists –Malaria Part 2

menu

The scale of the problem faced

Can we do something to reduce the risk of catching malaria?

How can we prevent mosquitoes breeding?

What to do if a child look to have malaria