Outbreak of Malaria in the US - Essay Example

Malaria al Affiliation) Malaria Introduction Malaria is an infection caused by Plasmodium pathogens that use mosquitoas a host and a mode of transmission. The aim of this paper is to analyze outbreak of Malaria in the U.S. The paper also discusses its control, plans and measures the government uses to mitigate the disease. The paper comes up with methods for creating public awareness and proposed actions for preventing the outbreak of this illness. In U.S, it was observed that people who had visited other countries, especially West Africa, indicated high contract of the infection. Minimal cases, that have been reported in U.S, have been as a result of blood transfusion or lab accidents. What percentage of the population was affected by the disease? According to statistics given by the Centers for Illness and Prevention, 1925 cases of malaria were detected. This constituted approximately 70% of the population that was affected. The 70% cases were from people who had tours to outside U.S predominantly West Africa and others from India. In U.S, only five cases were reported, and this was approximately 0.25% of the population. Of the five cases reported, one was as a result of blood transfusion, another one from a lab accident, one from a traveler and the remaining two cases from born children whose mother had traveled. Have there been instances of any historic outbreak of the disease, was the condition managed and monitored in the community? Yes, there has been historical case of malaria in the U.S. Back in the year 1930’s, malaria was endemic and concentrated in the 13 states of America. For instance, in the year 1933, malaria had prevailed approximately 30% of the population in the Tennessee River Valley. Another instance of malaria outbreak was recorded in the year 1942, this was during the World War II. Malaria cases were heavily recorded in military base camps. The disease was handled and controlled. Programs like the National Malaria Eradication Program (NMEP) and centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were initiated in the year 1947 and 1946 respectively, to suppress and help in the eradication of malaria. Preventive measures like spraying of insecticides, DDT, and application of the same to the interior walls of the houses, were used to thwart spreading of malaria. What were the goals and objectives of your public education plan to control the disease? The goals and objectives of the public education plane to control malaria were as follows. One, educate the community about transmission and the causative agent of malaria. Two, provide methods and ways of reducing the spread of disease, in case there is an outbreak (Speybroeck, 2011). Three, give ways in which people can prevent malaria and eradicate it from their vicinities. Four, educate the public on the various organizations that have been established to fight against the disease. Finally, What were the initiative that were taken by the government department to mitigate the impact of the disease The government of U.S initiated a program called President’s Malaria Initiative. This program, initiated on June 30, 2005 by George Bush, was meant to fight malaria in United State and across the sub-Saharan countries in Africa. Also, in May 2009, Barrack Obama announce the Global Health Initiative that was to fight malaria prevalence in 80 countries, U.S included (Aregawi, 2010). The U.S government has also initiated acts like the Lantos/Hyde Act that enable the organization such as the CDC be involved in the strategic planning information and implementing of the same. CDC also monitors, evaluate and give advice on which activities should be priorities. Finally, CDC aid in wise allocation of limited resources so as to efficiently handle malaria in countries that are affected. What measure would you suggest in the plan to reduce health risks? Some of the proposed measures in the plan to reduce health risks are provision of nets that have been treated with insecticides. They should be provided in health cares for free and in any other public place where people can easily have access to them. Pregnant women should intermittently be treated to ensure that the children, they give birth to, are not infected by malaria. All residential houses should spray, where appropriate, using appropriate insecticide. It should be noted that, malaria is a global issue that affect everyone, and everyone, who is capable, should be involved so as to have more power to fight malaria. In regards to this, public corporations should be involved so as to help in the plan (Prevention, 2015). How would the plan allow the public to recognize that pathogens are related to the cause of the disease and other health problems? The plan will organize workshops where people will be taught about malaria specifically focusing on how it is transmitted. Through the plan, statistics of different places will be provided to people. Each place chosen will be analyzed in terms of how prone the place is to malaria infection. Another factor, that will be looked upon, is the ability to the chosen place to sustain pathogens. With several comparisons of the place, the plan will be able to prove that places, that favor pathogen multiplication, have high percentage of people with malaria while those places that inhibit pathogen multiplication have fewer cases of malaria and other infectious diseases. Through this, people will come to the understanding that pathogens are related to the cause of the disease and other related infections. How would the plan suggest measures to prevent the outbreak of chosen infectious diseases? Malaria is a fatal disease. Some of the measure community can take as a prevent outbreak of it are destroying habitats where mosquitoes live. This can be done by draining away stagnant waters. In the case of swampy areas where it is difficult to drain the water away, spraying can be done so as to kill mosquito’s eggs and prevent further productivity. Also, if one detects that they have malaria or any of the infectious diseases, they should undertake appropriate medical diagnosis and treatment (Cunningham, 1970). Another measure is preventing the diseases in advance; this can be done by taking antimalarial drugs like chemoprophylaxis. The purpose of prior prevention it to suppress the pathogens where possible. References Aregawi, M. (2010). World Malaria Report 2010. Geneva: World Health Organization. Cunningham, G. (1970). The reappearance of malaria in the USA. Journal Of Clinical Pathology,23(9), 826-826. doi:10.1136/jcp.23.9.826-b Prevention, C. (2015). CDC Features - Malaria and Travel. Cdc.gov. Retrieved 21 January 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/features/malaria/ Speybroeck, N. (2011). Malaria Reports, a new journal. Malaria Reports, 1(1), 1. doi:10.4081/malaria.2011.e1 Read More