Office of Overseas Programming & Training Support (OPATS) Introduction to Malaria Prevention Part 1 Malaria Prevention and Control

 Malaria kills 750,000 people annually.  90% of those deaths are in Africa.  Most of those are children. That is more deaths from malaria than the population of Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota or Alaska. Every Year.

Session Learning Objective : Using what they have learned from their host families and from their participation in the training session, participants will explain at least two concepts community members should know about malaria transmission.

Malaria – The Oldest Killer 3500-year-old mummy who died of malaria. Take your prophylaxis and… body aches, fatigue, anorexia, retinal bleeding in severe cases

Plasmodium falciparum #1 Killer Primary cause of severe and cerebral malaria Plasmodium vivax Primary cause of chronic or recurrent malaria + 3 less common strains of Plasmodium This is the one we care about! This one Too Malarial Parasites

Malaria Vector P. falciparum is carried from person to person by the female Anopheles mosquito. Transmission is generally at night – the Anopheles primary feeding hours. And they’re terrifying up close…

The Transmission Cycle - Anopheles Female Anopheles mosquitoes: Take blood meals between 8 pm and 2 am What could we do to protect people between 8 and 2? Rest to digest on the upper third of interior walls If we put some poison there, wouldn’t it kill them? Have many breeding sites (e.g., donkey hoof prints) Larviciding all possible breeding sites is not feasible Lay eggs in fresh, NOT dirty, water Can travel for kilometers Empirical evidence shows that brush clearing around homes has NO EFFECT on malaria

The Transmission Cycle - Humans Plasmodium enters the body and goes to the liver While it’s in the liver, you are NEITHER symptomatic NOR contagious This can last 1-4 weeks* *Which is why you can be feeling fine when you get on the plane and two weeks of partying with your friends in NYC later… you start to feel sick. From the liver, parasite begins infecting red blood cells Parasites burst out killing the red blood cells and releasing toxins (  fever, headache, nausea, body- aches, etc.) At roughly the same time, you first become infectious. This is why you should seek care early! Red blood cells infected with P. falciparum

The Mosquito and the Damage Done Malaria infected red blood cells clotting in the brain Cerebral Malaria Red blood cells sticking to blood vessels in the brain can cause clotting, mini-strokes, coma, and death. Quickly. Most commonly seen in non-immune individuals* *Take your prophylaxis Severe Anemia Anemia is an insufficiency of RBCs… whose job it is to bring oxygen to the internal organs… Symptoms include extreme fatigue, heart palpitations, and in extreme cases seizures, coma and death. Dragging Down Africa Malaria in childhood can lead to impaired cognitive development = lower IQ Malaria is the leading cause of school age absenteeism in Africa Jeffrey Sachs and other economists estimate that malaria drains 1.3 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP annually roughly $13 billion

Malaria Eradication and Peace Corps

Stomping Out Malaria in Africa An Africa-wide Peace Corps initiative aimed at significantly supporting the international effort to eliminate malaria from Africa. Foundational goals: Universal bed net coverage, malaria prevention and treatment education in all Peace Corps work zones by 2013 Significantly contribute to partner efforts toward the internationally agreed upon milestone of near zero deaths in Africa by 2015 Work with partners to catalyze a community of practice for front line malaria prevention professionals. Promote documentation and sharing of malaria prevention practices internationally.

Malaria Prevention in [POST] National epidemiological data: Important national partners: National malaria control policy and intervention strategies : Post’s strategy for malaria prevention:

What do communities need to understand about malaria?  Which elements of the basic malaria science are the most important for people to understand?  Are there any common misconceptions that need to be addressed? TALK BACK

Common misconceptions? Dirty water causes malaria Sorcerers cause malaria Green mangos cause malaria