Malaria is a highly infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, joint pain, and anemia. Preventive measures such as using insect repellents and mosquito nets are recommended. Quinine is an early drug that is still used against variants that have developed immunity to more modern drugs. Sickle cell anemia is caused by a mutation that has evolved in humans living in areas with a high risk of malaria.
Malaria is a highly infectious disease transmitted from human to human by mosquitoes. Coined from the Italian for “bad air,” this disease was originally thought to be caused by exposure to swampy air. When the relationship between mosquito population and disease transmission was finally recognized, controlling its spread became much easier.
Almost unknown in the United States and Europe, malaria is most prevalent in tropical climates, where children and pregnant women are most at risk. Symptoms are fever, joint pain, chills, vomiting and anemia, which can appear months or even years after you initially become infected. The best way to deal with the disease is to prevent mosquito bites. Preventive measures such as using DEET and other insect repellents, covering the bed with mosquito nets in the tropics, and wearing long sleeves are recommended.
Malaria is diagnosed through microscopic examination of blood cells. Once a patient is diagnosed, a variety of medications can be helpful. Quinine, distilled from the bark of a South American cinchona tree, was an early drug that cured and protected against contracting the parasite that causes disease. It is still used against variants that have developed immunity to more modern drugs. It is of historical interest that quinine is the “tonic” ingredient in tonic water, which helps explain the popularity of gin and tonic drinks in the tropics.
Sickle cell anemia, a genetic blood disorder, is caused by a mutation that has evolved in humans living in areas with a high risk of malaria. A person who inherits the mutation from their “carrier” parents will have the chronic disease, which periodically flares up and causes bouts of extreme pain. Those who receive just one copy of the mutated gene, however, have greater resistance to malaria. This resistance for some outweighed the painful disease of others, and the mutation thrived in parts of the tropics.
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