Malaria is a serious and fatal infectious disease that has devastating impacts on individuals and societies. It causes burdens within families, societies, and countries. Researchers, including epidemiologists and sociologists, have been evaluating this infectious disease in terms of the burden it places on individuals and societies. They have found information that confirms that the view on malaria by most societies results in behavior and financial changes in individuals. Malaria is involved in many aspects of research due to its high mortality rate each year.
Malaria is an infectious disease that results when the Plasmodia parasites infects a human host. Although there are many strains of Plasmodia only four result in malaria. Those four include: P. vivax, P. ovale, P. falciparum, and P. malariae. Each strain has a location where it is predominately located. Each strain also has it owns drug resistance and symptom severity. P. falciparum is considered to be the most fatal strain and is mostly located in the subtropics and tropics. P. ovale is mainly found in tropical Africa, Asia, and the Western Pacific. The parasites are capable of living in the human liver and blood cells. They also live in the vascular system, gut, and salivary glands of mosquitoes. The parasite usually enters the human host through female Anopheles mosquitoes. Only female mosquitoes transmit malaria because males feed off of nectar. The female mosquitoes feed off the blood of mammals in order to be able to lay their eggs. Since the parasite lives in the salivary glands of the mosquito, when she inserts her sporozoites while trying to find a capillary she inserts the parasite. During this process around ten sporozoites are transferred but only one is needed to cause the infection in the host. The sporozoites then migrate to the liver where they reproduce using asexual binary fission. They reproduce for the next five to twenty-five days. During this phase the human host does not experience any symptoms. The sporozoites will mature into schizonts which will then rupture, resulting in the infection of the red blood cells. Once in the red blood cells, the patient can begin to experience symptoms. Malaria can also be transmitted through the use of infected blood products such as bone marrow and organs. It can also be transmitted to newborns through the placenta (Institute, 2004).
Malaria can be serious and fatal. Each year nearly one million infected patients die with ninety percent of these fatalities being children. The severity of the symptoms depends on the individual and the strain. The most common symptoms resemble those of the common flu. These include things such as a fever, chills, nausea, headaches, and fatigue. Examination can show symptoms such as an enlarged spleen and liver, jaundice, and an increase in the patients’ respiratory rate. Severe symptoms can include seizures, anemia, coma, and kidney failure (Institute, 2004).
In highly prone areas malaria can go undiagnosed. There are multiple ways for malaria to be diagnosed. Some of the common methods include peripheral blood smears, QBC method, and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTS). The peripheral blood smear uses a blood sample obtained from a finger-prick. The QBC method also uses a finger-prick method but it evaluates the sample by staining the DNA of the parasite. The most commonly used method in most countries in the rapid diagnostic test. This test is convenient and does not require the use of any laboratory equipment. For this method the individual has to place a blood sample on the provided test pad along with other reagents. After a certain time frame, distinguishable bands will appear confirming whether the patient is infected or not. There are currently around eighty-six rapid diagnostic tests available. They vary on location and parasite strain (Tangpukdee, 2009).
Once the patient has been diagnosed with malaria, an oral medication can be given. The medication prescribed will depend on the strain and country in which they were infected. The strain specific medication is important because certain strains have drug-resistance to some of the medications. Some of the common medications include Chloroquine, Malarone, Coartem, and Lariam (Centers, 2017).
When examining Malaria, epidemiologists consider the burden in respect of mortality. Economists consider the burden to be in terms of financial costs, national growth and productivity. Both approaches examine the risk factors and quantitative outcomes of the disease. One issue when examining diseases is that researchers fail to consider social changes. These changes can lead to effects on many aspects of life such as education, reproduction and economics. The main social issue involved with malaria that was observed by sociologists is that malaria is not perceived as a serious and fatal disease by most adults in highly malaria prone regions of the world. These regions of the world see the symptoms of malaria as tolerable therefore not serious. Even in their children, these individuals see the disease as treatable therefore a normal illness that should not be exaggerated. This viewpoint on malaria results in behavioral changes for infected individuals. Since the disease is seen as a normal everyday illness, people who get infected are not expected to change their everyday behavior. This makes certain individuals unwilling to admit to the disease which can result in serious consequences (Jones, 2004).
In malaria prone areas of the world, families must accommodate to the disease. Decisions about reproduction and education are impacted by the disease. Certain families within these areas may chose not to reproduce to prevent their children from potentially becoming infected. They may also choose to not reproduce due to financial hardship that could have occurred as a result of the disease. This decision can ultimately affect the economic aspects of the society. Malaria can also cause financial issues within poor families in these locations. A research study found that malaria can result in a decrease in some household savings because of treatment and loss of labor. The same study also found that the high risk of the illness could result in an increase in the household savings. This is because these families want to protect themselves from future financial hardship if the illness was to impact their family (Sachs, 2002).
Malaria affects growth and development in some regions which then impacts the economic growth of that region. Individuals will refuse to move into malaria prone regions of the world for labor. This results in a decrease in worker productivity. It was found that even individuals that once lived in these areas will not return. They will not return because they have potentially lost their immunity, therefore are at risk of re-infection. One study examined the idea on whether there was a correlation between poverty and malaria transmission. It was found that poverty can increase the transmission of the disease. This can occur because families and individuals might not have the financial funds to protect themselves from the disease. It was also found that malaria can lead to poverty due to inability to work and healthcare expenses. Malaria is not always due to a poverty issue since it is a geographic issue. It was found that even in wealthy countries the disease is still a frequent issue (Sachs, 2002).
Malaria is a serious infectious disease that is predominant in high temperature areas such as the tropics and Africa. The disease is caused by the parasite Plasmodia and different strains are located in different regions of the world. The symptoms range from mild to severe. This disease is the center of many research studies due to the high mortality rate. It is found in wealthy countries as well as those with high poverty rates. Research studies found that malaria results in social and economic changes in highly prone areas. The change in social aspects is a result of normalization of the disease because the disease is so common. The economic changes are a result of treatment, inability to work, and financial security. Malaria will continue to be examined by epidemiologists, economists, and sociologists until there is a full understanding of all the serious impacts on individuals and countries.