Malaria Prevention & Treatment - Essay Example

Running Head: Malaria Prevention & Treatment Malaria Prevention & Treatment [Institute’s Malaria Prevention & Treatment Malaria is one of the most significant epidemics of the present time, affecting more than half of the total world’s population, targeting mainly the resource-poor regions specially the Africa. Although, the techniques used for prevention and treatment on the massive scale have proven to be effective, they have lost their impact due to the changing circumstance and increased resistance in mosquitoes and parasites against them. Thus, need has risen for new technologies and inventions to replace the old ones so that the healthcare agencies all over the world can fight this disease in the most efficient manner. INTRODUCTION According to World Health Organization, “half of the world’s entire population that is approximately 3.3 billion people is at the risk of malaria” (WHO, 2010). This results into two hundred fifty million cases of malaria every year with the majority belonging to the underdeveloped countries. Africa, in particular is highly vulnerable to the disease with 20% of the deaths in children attributed to this disease, which means that roughly every 30 seconds, malaria takes away one young life. What is malaria? Malaria is a “parasitic disease characterized by high fever, flu-like symptoms, and anemia” (WHO, 29, 2010). It results from a parasite carried from one human to another by the bite of a female mosquito, Anopheles. As the infection transfers, the parasites called sporozoites enter the bloodstream and arrive at the liver where they develop into merozoites and then attack the red blood cells present in the blood. The symptoms of malaria occurs 10 days to a month after the infection strikes the red blood cells but this time span can fluctuate from 8 days to over an year. The symptoms include “nausea, vomiting, chills, sweating, muscle pains, jaundice, headache, fever, bloody stools, and convulsions” (WHO, 2010). These symptoms are outcomes of anemia, which might follow from the destruction of red blood cells or a surplus of hemoglobin in the blood due to massive breaking of these cells. Not only human to another human, parasite can also transfer from a mother to her unborn baby and by blood transfusions as well. However, the parasite thrives in high temperature, which makes the countries on the equator most vulnerable to the disease. A major challenge is that in some parts of the world mainly Africa, the malarial mosquitoes have developed a strong immunity towards the insecticides, which means that it is getting harder and harder to get rid of them. Worse, the parasites, which attack the cells of the body, have also gained stronger resistance to the antibiotics. Thus, it has become vitally important to emphasize on the prevention of malaria as much as one can. As this report also suggests, more effective ways of treating malaria should be brought forward and made available to people. Therefore, this report attempts to highlight the recent development in prevention and treatment of malaria and suggestion on further improvement of the healthcare sector in this regard so that the quality of life in underdeveloped countries can be improved and brought at par with the developed countries. LITERATURE REVIEW The literature review will deal separately with the prevention, treatment of the disease and the developments that has taken place in the field in the recent decades. Prevention In any efficient healthcare system, prevention is the first step. In the prevention of Malaria, the prevention works in two steps. The first step deals with the overall protection from the disease altogether whereas in the second step, the disease is prevented from further spreading. The methods employed in prevention of malaria include “the use of prophylactic drugs| (WHO 37, 2010), prevention of mosquito-human contact and eradication of mosquitoes. The existence of malaria and the magnitude of its attack depend on three important factors: higher density of human population, higher density of mosquito population and higher interaction, and transmission from humans to mosquitoes and mosquitoes to humans. If any of these three variables is diminished by a large margin, the disease and the parasite can be prevented altogether. Examples of this can be observable in Europe, North America and parts of Middle East. However, this is not that successful a measure since the parasite-favoring combination of variable keeps reverting, owing to increasing travel and immigration, which reestablishes malaria at places it was eradicated from earlier on. It is also a belief that preventing malaria is more economical than the treatment, yet unaffordable by the third world countries. Treatment On the other hand, the treatment of malaria can also ensure complete recovery. The treatment of malaria is comprised of two types: treatment for mild malaria and the treatment for sever malaria. The mild malaria is treated with oral drugs (WHO, 12, 2010). The most effective ones in this regard are artemisinins, which is also recommended by WHO. However, these drugs are used in combination with the ACTs, “the Antimalarials Artemisinin-Combination Therapy” (WHO, 13, 2010) so that the human immunity system does not develop any resistance against the drugs. However, the sever malaria needs what the researchers call parenteral administration. Quinine (WHO, 11, 2010) is usually used in severe cases in both children and adults. Further supportive measures also accompany the treatment process in severe malaria. Development in the Recent Decades Countries like Brazil, Vietnam, and India have successfully eradicated malaria (WHO, 2010). This success might be attributed to better geographic locations, an efficient collaborated approach, empirically tested decisions, synergy between private, public sector, and ample resources. The scientific advancements have also led to better dealing of the disease for instance; quinine was considered the best solution for severe cases of malaria. It is only now that artesunate was tested and was shown to be more effective than quinine in all age groups alike. DISCUSSION Whereas the contribution of the conventional anti-malarial drugs and measures has been significant, what is needed is a better, more compact and more massive preventive and treatment measures. It is no wonder that drugs are the only best way to eradicate malaria; however, better and more powerful drugs can make the job way easier. In this regard, a highly optimal antimalarial drug would not only be radically mortal for all five types of malaria, which carry the infection, but also the one, which can be easily mass administered (The malERA Consultative Group on Vaccines, 1-5, 2011). The drugs, which are usually adopted, are not proficient enough and cater to only one or two of the total species, mainly falciparum and vivax. Another important area where development has been taking place is the invention of new vaccinations against malaria (The malERA Consultative Group on Vaccines, 1-4, 2011). Presently, there exists no licensed and authentic vaccination against malaria, partly because the pathology of the disease is highly complex and scientists and medical researchers are still in the process of understanding its intricacy. However, many research institutes such as NIAID are supporting research ventures, which are determined to create vaccines against malaria. Many interesting ventures are being proposed including transmission blocking vaccines, which will block the transmission of malaria parasite to the mosquito itself. It is also a realization that improved diagnostics are an integral part of the effective malaria control. The most recent technique for malaria diagnosis is the clichéd microscopic analysis of blood smears, which is both, highly inefficient and time consuming. Researchers should aspire to develop faster and more efficient techniques, which are highly suitable for underdeveloped settings where resources are scarce (Greenwood, 6, 2009). Another dimension where work needs to be done is vector management. Tools such as insecticides, bed nets etc have been remarkably significant in controlling malaria. However, these techniques have been proven outdated in recent times, due to the growing resistance in mosquitoes against insecticides (The malERA Consultative Group on Vaccines, 1-6, 2011). CONCLUSION This report has attempted to describe the so forth development in the fields of malaria prevention and treatment and the way the previously popular and successful remedies and treatments have fallen short of their ideal use due to the changing circumstances. This report also suggests several measures for improving the malaria control in mainly the third world countries and areas where more research is required. Malaria affects the health standards of infant, children, and pregnant women all over the world. As statistics reveal, in Africa, over 800,000 children under five years of age fall prey to malaria annually. Not only directly, malaria indirectly too affects the lives of its patients through malnutrition which alone is responsible for the mortality of half of all children under the age of five years. More, around fifty million pregnant women catch malaria annually. In regions with high vulnerability to malaria, 25% of total cases of severe maternal anemia are related to malaria. Looking at this state of matters around the world and specially the third world countries, it becomes all the more important for scientists to research and gain better understanding on the ways. In particular, the ways in which malaria affects such a large number of young children and pregnant mothers and come up with new technology and techniques to cater to this vital health concern. REFERENCES Greenwood, Brian. 2009. “Anti-malarial drugs and the prevention of malaria in the population of malaria endemic areas” Greenwood Malaria Journal. Volume 9, Issue 3, pp. 1-7. The malERA Consultative Group on Vaccines. 2011. “A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Vaccines.” PLoS Medicine. Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 1-10. The malERA Consultative Group on Vaccines. 2011. “A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Drugs.” PLoS Medicine. Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 1-9. The malERA Consultative Group on Vaccines. 2011. “A Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication: Basic Science and Enabling Technologies.” PLoS Medicine. Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 1-6. WHO. 2010. Guidelines for the treatment of malaria -- 2nd edition. World Health Organization. Read More