Culture and Disease Essay

Malaria is one of the ailments that atomic physical body 18 responsible for the highest d go throughh rate and morbidity rates in Africa especially among electric razorren ( being Bank, 2009). In fact, it is one of the bulkyest public health concerns in Africa and most of the health programs ar aimed at ginmill and interference of the indisposition (World Bank, 2009). This complaint is common among Afri fundaments compa rosy to opposite ethnic groups receivable to economical, cultural, economic and social agentive roles. In a bid to debate this scourge, Africans hit been victimisation several(prenominal) methods to entertain the extend of malaria and the methods have include twain the modern and conventional approaches.Malaria is an infectious disease which is usually caused by a parasite that is cognise as plasmodium. These parasites are protozoan in record and they are of several species which include malaria parasite falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plas modium ovale, and Plasmodium vivax (Sherman, 1998). Among these species, the most serious and smugg take species to humankind organisms is P. falciparum. The plasmodium is transmitted to humans by the female anopheles mosquitoes and its lifecycle involves two hosts which are the human host and a mosquito vector (Sherman, 1998).In the lifecycle of the plasmodium it chance variables sporozoites which are embed in the gut of the female mosquito (Russel & Wolfe, 2008). The female mosquito transmits the sporozoites to human beings through a stinging. These sporozoites trigger into the human liver where they enter the liver cells and full-blown into a schizont which contains numerous merozoites (Russel & Wolfe, 2008). These merozoites are released into bloodstream where they overrun the someonenel casualty cells thereby anatomying schizonts with numerous merozoites. These are released from the red blood cells into bloodstream where they invade more red cells.As the red cells a re bursting to release the merozoites, harmful compounds are released which causes the fever and the clinical symptoms that are associated with malaria (Russel & Wolfe, 2008). In the bloodstream, some of the merozoites differentiate into the male and female gametes which are taken up by the mosquito from the infected soul and these two fertilize each other in the gut of the mosquito and they develop into sporozoites (Russel & Wolfe, 2008). These are transmitted to other human being through a bite by the mosquito.though the principal mode of malaria transmitting is by mosquito bites, there are other methods that can transmit the malarial parasite. hotshot of these is blood transfusion side by side(p) existence of dormant plasmodium parasites in the donors blood. This can set the transfused person to suffer from a febrile illness and for these reasons in cranial orbits where malaria is endemic a full course of chloroquine is administered to likely recipients of blood (Kakki laya, 2006). Another mode of infection system is transmission from mother to child among pregnant women.These parasites pass to the child through the placenta especially if the mother has no freedom (Kakkilaya, 2006). The last mode of transmission is through provoke stick injury which can be either accidental as happens among healthcare providers or well-educated as happens among drug addicts who share needles (Kakkilaya, 2006). on that point are several factors that make Africans susceptible to malaria and one of these are the environmental factors which contri thate to spread of the disease. To begin with, malaria is a climate related disease where it is mostly found in the tropic and subtropic regions.The climate in Africa particularly the annual mean temperature is mostly inwardly the tolerance limit of the plasmodium species and this makes the parasite to fly high thus rendering the commonwealths living in this area vulnerable (Leary, 2008). Another environmental fa ctor is last disturbances in Africa which influences the facts of life sites of the vectors thereby change magnitude the transmission potential of malaria (Leary, 2008). These weather disturbances occur in the form of prolonged droughts and heavy rains. thither are several social and cultural factors that make Africans vulnerable to malaria disease.One of these is increase human population in Africa and this has led to swamp reclamation and deforestation in a bid to find more land for settlement. The movement of these activities has been the creation of puddles which provides commodity breeding sites for the mosquitoes which in revoke transmit malaria (Leary, 2008). When the vegetation is removed, what happens is that the temperatures increase and this aids in malaria transmission. Another factor is self medication where numerous battalion in Africa buy drugs over the takings and treat themselves at home (Leary, 2008).This has led to growth of drug resistant strains of pla smodium necessitating continuous commutation of anti-malarial drugs. This has made the populations in Africa susceptible to the disease since sooner of dealing with the problem the populations create more problems by creating drug resistant strains of plasmodium. In addition, many quite a shortsighted treat themselves with anti-malarial drugs that have already been ruled as in effective thereby putting themselves at risk of infection of developing serious and complicated malaria (Leary, 2008).Another factor is lack of knowledge on the disease among both the communities and the public health officials. A study through in 2004 showed that in East Africa people are required by the Public Health carry to clear the bushes around their houses as a mode of keep oning the spread of yellow fever yet studies have shown that clearing of bushes creates favorable breeding conditions for malaria (Leary, 2008). This increases the picture of Africans to malaria disease since effective meas ures are not taken to prevent spread of malaria.Economic factors alike increase the vulnerability of Africans to malaria. Poverty levels in Africa are high which convey that there are inadequate economic resources to position in healthcare thereby making people vulnerable to malaria epidemics. Most of the populations here live on a lower floor a dollar a day and similarly cases of viands shortages are very common which makes obtaining food rather than malaria measure a priority (Leary, 2008). These economic hardships also make it difficult for populations to seek good enough healthcare services.Most just go to the head-to-head clinics or to the local anesthetic dispensaries most of which have no equipment for diagnosis thus resulting in inappropriate prescriptions (Leary, 2008). In addition, some of the medical staff found in these healthcare facilities are not qualified. The reason as to why most of the people prefer the local dispensaries is cost constraints where they cann ot afford motorized direct and thus prefer to use cheap means of transport such(prenominal) as bicycles (Leary, 2008). Myths and cultural notions also make Africans vulnerable to malaria.This is particularly with regard to the cause and prevention of malaria. Some people hope that malaria is caused by witchery or supernatural forces and a good spokesperson is Uganda where the populations here associate convulsions which are a form of malarial complication with supernatural forces (Leary, 2008). This really makes the populations vulnerable to malaria since they cannot take measures to prevent malaria. In addition, due to such beliefs, people who have malaria are not tempered with conventional care for which is more effective but are treated development traditional medicine which is not that effective.This makes the populations susceptible to malaria epidemics since the problem is not being addressed thereby ensuring the spread of the disease and increasing mortality rates. Oth er people associate malaria with sealed foods and a good example is populations in Tanzania who believe that malaria is due to consumption of maize meal (Leary, 2008). This belief results from the fact that maize meals in Tanzania are ordinarily consumed in times of food shortages which occur following too much or too little rainfall (Leary, 2008). These climatic conditions are also associated with increased cases of malaria.However, the populations associate malaria with the food they commonly eat at that time and therefore they do not eat maize meals as a right smart of struggle malaria (Leary, 2008). This only serves to make them more vulnerable to malaria. There are several methods that are used to control the spread of malaria. Some of these methods are aimed at threatening exposure to infectious mosquito bites and these include indoor dot using insecticides, use of bed nets that are insecticide treated, and use of churn uplants (Falola & Heaton, 2007).Insecticides are used to reduce the number of adult mosquitoes while materials such as repellants repel mosquitoes away from an individual thereby curbing the spread of the disease. Another method involves treatment of the disease using drugs. Though drug resistance has been a great problem in fighting malaria, drugs have be to be effective in suppressing the parasite within the host thus preventing further spread of the disease (Falola & Heaton, 2007). Other treatment methods involve interfering with the breeding sites of mosquitoes and these include draining of stagnant water and sprinkle of breeding sites with insecticides.Apart from these methods of preventing the spread of malaria, the African population has its alternative methods of dealing with malaria. One of these involves use of traditional medicine. Traditional healers in Africa diagnose and treat malaria using indigenous roots, herbs, and leaves which are usually prepared and taken orally (Maslove et al. , 2009). This acts as a barri er to the fight against malaria since their diagnosis is based merely on symptoms and not diagnostic evidence which may lead to untoward treatment thus further spread of malaria due to delayed treatment (Maslove et al., 2009). Traditionally, Africans have relied on good sanitation practices such as proper governing body of garbage and draining of swamps as a way of preventing malaria and up to date their method remains effective and aids the fight against malaria (Falola & Heaton, 2007). However, this approach ignores mosquitoes as the vectors affect in the spread of malaria thereby hampering the fight against malaria (Falola & Heaton, 2007). Though Africans have taken steps to address malaria, a lot still remains to be done.There is a great need for education on the causes of malaria as by understanding the causes of malaria preventive and treatment strategies can be effectively implemented. There is also the need to educate the African traditional healers on malaria so that the y can use better approaches in the treatment of malaria. References Falola, T. & Heaton, M. M. (2007). HIV/AIDS, illness and African well-being. current York, NY Rochester Press. Kakkilaya, B. S. (2006). Transmission of malaria. Retrieved 23 August, 2010 from http//www. malariasite. com/malaria/Transmission. htm Leary, N. (2008).Climate change and vulnerability. the States Earthscan. Maslove et al. (2009). Barriers to the effective treatment and prevention of malaria in Africa A systematic review of qualitative studies. BMC International human beings Rights, 9(29), 2321- 2337. Russel, P. J. & Wolfe, S. L. (2008). Biology mint 2 The dynamic science, volume 2. Belmont, CA Thomson Publishers. Sherman, I. W. (1998). Malaria Parasite biology, pathogenesis, and protection. Washington, DC ASM Press. World bank. (2009). step up the fight against malaria The world banks virtuoso program for malaria control in Africa. Washington, DC World Bank.