Parasitic Wasps

Malaria is one of the most prevalent and dangerous diseases known to man.

It has existed for centuries and affects a myriad of people in the tropical
region. Even today, with our newly discovered treatments for many of the
tropical diseases, over 10% of the people that are infected with malaria each
year and do not receive proper treatment die. In Africa alone, over 1 million
children die each year because of malaria and new cases are reported frequently.

Malaria is very dangerous and harmful to man. However, the protozoan that causes
malaria has existed since man came into being. Fossils of mosquitoes that are 30
million years old contain the vector for malaria. After written history, many
civilisations have known about malaria. The Greek physician Hippocrates
described the symptoms of malaria in the 5th Century BC The name malaria is
derived from the Italian words, mal and aria, meaning “bad air”,
because people of earlier times believed that the disease was caused by polluted
air near swaps and wetlands in Europe. The scientific identification of malaria
was not found until 1880. The French army physician, Charles Laveran, while
stationed in Algeria, noticed strange shapes of red blood cells in certain
patients and identified the disease scientifically and linked to a certain
protozoan. Although the disease had been identified, it was not until 1897, when
British army physician, Ronald Ross studied birds and discovered that the
malarial protozoan was transmitted through mosquitoes. Soon after, two Italian
scientists noted that mosquitoes spread malaria to humans as well. Many attempts
have been made to try to eradicate the disease. As early as 7 AD, in Rome,
swamps were drained to try to prevent the “bad air” from reaching
nearby cities. Recently, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, about 25 years after the
development of DDT, the United Nations World Health Organisation tried to wipe
out the disease through the use of DDT. Although, the number of cases was
reduces in many areas, they started again. Scientists today believe that malaria
can never be eradicated due to the fact that the protozoan can manipulate easily
and become resistant to a drug that is overused. The mosquitoes that spread
malaria are also becoming resistant to insecticides. Malaria can be treated on
an individual basis and treatments and medicines can be used. To understand
these treatments however, one must understand what happens to a malarial
protozoan. The disease, malaria, is cause by the protozoan, Plasmodium, which
lives in tropical regions all around the world. There are only four species of
this protozoan that cause malaria in humans, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium vivax,
Plasmodium malariae, and Plasmodium falciparum. These protozoans are spread from
infected to healthy people through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, blood
transfusions, or through hypodermic injections. This makes malaria one of the
most easily communicable diseases in the world. 1.Sporozoites in salivary gland.

2.Oöcysts
in stomach wall. 3.Male and female gametocytes. 4.Liver phase. 5.Release of
merozoites from liver. These enter red cells where both sexual and asexual
cycles continue. Malaria is spread only through the females of the 60 different
types of the Anopheles mosquito, as the males do not feed on blood. The symptoms
of this disease are many, however a physician must be consulted to avoid risk to
a person. To treat malaria, many drugs are used today. Forms of these drugs date
back to the 1500’s and 1600’s. Physicians diagnose malaria by identifying
Plasmodia in a patient’s body. Once identified, malaria can be treated with
chloroquine and primaquine. Since some forms of Plasmodia falciparum have become
resistant to these, quinine, mefloquine, or halofautrine are used. Almost all of
the cases of malaria can be treated if done in the proper way. However, to
suffer the pain and illness of malaria, people can use many preventive measures.

All swampy areas must be avoided as well as tropical water that may be
contaminated or local food. People should just protect themselves from
mosquitoes and risk of infection will be tremendously lowered. This can be done
by impregnated bednets. These involve surrounding the bed with a curtain that is
sprayed with certain compounds. These are normally pyrethroids or
organophosphates, which create an effective barrier between the mosquito and its
blood meal. Alternative ‘barrier’ methods are insect repellents. These are
certain chemicals that that when applied to the skin as a spray or lotion is
quite effective at deterring the mosquito from landing on a person in order to
feed. Other methods of controlling malaria are the use of insecticides and
vaccines. Insecticides are chemicals such as