Pediatric Infectious Diseases in India
This is the first in a series of five posts leading up to my trip to India to examine issues of child survival with the International Reporting Project via Johns Hopkins University with significant funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For the duration of the trip, I am to consider my self a New Media Journalist with IRP.
Infectious diseases are common all over the world. You probably know them as generally communicable diseases of bacterial, viral or protozoan origin that will enter the body and infect it, causing illness and sometimes leading to death, especially if the body is weakened by malnutrition or stressful environmental factors.
Other Pediatric Diseases in India (Malaria and HIV)
Image is of the Anopheles mosquito, the main insect vector of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of Malraria via the CDC
This post is a continuation of Pediatric Diseases in India (part 4).
MALARIA
“Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that affects more than 500 million people annually, causing between 1 and 3 million deaths. It is most common in tropical and subtropical climates and is found in 90 countries—but 90% of all cases are found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of its victims are children. The first stage consists of shaking and chills, the next stage involves high fever and severe headache, and in the final stage the infected person’s temperature drops and he or she sweats profusely. Infected people also often suffer from anemia, weakness, and a swelling of the spleen. Malaria was almost eradicated 30 years ago; now it is on the rise again.” (source)
12 years ago Blog, Health, STEM, Travel • Tags: AIDS, artemisinic acid, CDC, HIV, India, International Reporting Project, malaria, mosquito, plasmodium, STEM, WHO