Living with Malaria: Obstacles to Elimination

1. By Austen Dellinger Living with Malaria: Obstacles to Elimination

2. The Numbers: • 500,000 years • 3.3 billion • 100 million • 1 minute

3. Thesis Statement: • Malaria will not be eliminated without improvement of the distribution of nets and drugs, increased compliance with the proper use of these life-saving resources, enhanced infrastructure in countries crippled by malaria, and the dispelling of cultural and religious superstition.

4. Malaria Transmission and Symptoms: • Malaria spreads as it is passed from mosquito to person and back to mosquito. • Symptoms include: chills and fever with headaches and vomiting, respiratory distress and malaise, strokes, heart problems and brutal anemia.

5. Vaccination, Prevention, and Treatment: • No vaccine • Best method of malaria prevention: insecticide treated bed nets. • Best cure: a full course of anti-malarial treatment.

6. Malaria Elimination in the United States: Malaria in North America: • Malaria was prevalent in North America from the 1600s to the mid-1900s. • Now, only about 1500 cases of malaria are reported per year in the U.S. • Bulldozed swamps • Paved roads and sewage systems • Window screens • Availability and affordability of treatment.

7. Obstacles to Elimination: Consequences of Malaria: • Absenteeism • high rates of unemployment • 30 to 40 billion dollars every year. • Misinformation and superstition regarding the disease • Deficient infrastructure • Low rates of compliance with prevention and treatment programs • Geography

8. Misinformation and Superstition: • Malawi, Africa: malaria is caused by mosquitoes… bad weather, hard work, jealousy, and hexes. • Leads such people away from medical centers and towards spiritual healers. • Some won’t give blood.

9. Infrastructure: • Medical centers: • Scarce • Lacking in supplies • Short staffed • Underdeveloped roads and deficient transportation methods increase death toll • Distribution is a challenge

11. Compliance: • Not always used for intended purpose • Burdensome • Hard to set up • Very hot • Not completing the full course of treatment Nets Drugs

12. Geography: • Mosquitoes need warm climates and still waters (puddles, lakes, standing water) to thrive. • E.g. Pakistan • Environmental transformation

13. Community Service • “Aim for the Net” • Participants: Triangle Futbol Club ’00 Navy • Raised $1,676 for “Against Malaria Foundation,” and “Malaria No More” • Everyone can make a difference

15. Bibliography • Finkel, Michael. Bedlam in the Blood: Malaria. National Geographic. Print. July, • 1997: 32-67. • Perry, Alex. Lifeblood. United Kingdom. C. Hurst & Company Ltd. 2011. Print. • Shah, Sophia. The Fever. United States. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2010. Print. • Shore, Bill. The Imaginations of Unreasonable Men. United States. PublicAffairs. • 2010. Print. • Webb Jr., James L.A. Humanity’s Burden. United States. Cambridge University Press. • 2009. Print. • “Malaria.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and

16. Bibliography (cont.) • Prevention. Web. 3 October 2013. • “Malaria.” New York Times. The New York Times. Web. 1 November 2013. • “Malaria.” World Health Organization. World Health Organization. 2013. Web. 7 • October 2013. • “Malaria: Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease • Control and Prevention. Web. 24 October 2013. • “Malaria: Fact sheet No 94.” World Health Organization. World Health Organization. • Web. 19 October 2013. Image Sources: • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_(epidemiology) • http://www.naturalhighsafaris.com/browse/experience/snorkelling_for_tropical_fish_in_a_great_rift_valley_lake

17. Any Questions?