Squyres1

OliviaSquyres
Mr.Agar
EnglishIIHonors
December1
MalariainAfrica
Every30secondsachilddiesfrommalaria(10Facts).AllthroughoutAfrica,children
arebeingplaguedbythisinfection.Malariaisadiseasethatismostcommonlyspreadthrough
mosquitoes,anditiscontinuingtospreadamongsttheAfricanpopulation.Scientistshavefound
acureformalariahowever,becauseAfricalacksfundingandresources,thiscureisnot
availableforthemajorityofthepopulation.Fortunately,organizationsexisttohelpthepeopleof
Africagetthemedicinesthattheyneed,butiftheyhavenoonetosupportthem,these
organizationscanonlydosomuchtohelp.Unfortunately,manypeopleeitherarenotawarethat
thisisanissueorchoosetoturnablindeyetothisdisease.Duetothelackoffundingandthe
largepopulationofAfricansinfectedwithMalaria,thisproblemcanonlybesolvedbyspreading
awarenesstothosewhoarefortunateenoughtohavetheresourcestohelpthepeoplethatare
sufferingallacrossthecontinent.
AcrossmultipleregionsofAfrica,Malariaiscontinuingtocausedeathsofthousands.
AccordingtotheWorldHealthOrganization,Malariaiscausedbybloodparasitestransmitted
frompersontopersonthroughbitesofinfectedmosquitoes(10Facts).Whenaninfected
mosquitobitesahumanbeing,thispersonwillnowgetmalaria.Oncethepersongetsinfected
theymayhavemildsymptomsandnotknowtheygotit,ortheycouldhaveseveresymptoms.If
thepersonhadseveresymptomstheywouldneedtobetreatedinordertosurvive.InNancy

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Daysbookshesays,Mosquitoespickupvirusesofotherorganismswhentheybiteinfected
animals(Day4).Thewaythatthemosquitoesgettheinfectionisbybitinganinfected
organism.Themosquitoisnotharmedbymalaria,becauseitisjustthehost.Sooncethe
mosquitoacquiresmalariaallthehumansthatitnowbiteswillbeinfectedtoo.MickIslesaysin
hisbook,MalariaoriginatedinAfrica(Isle20).MalariaoriginatedinAfrica,becausethe
mosquitopopulationissohighbecauseofthewarmtemperature.Themoremosquitoes,the
moreablethatthemalariacanspread.LeeanneGelletlysays,90%oftheworld'smalariadeath
occurinAfrica(Gelletly15).Sotoday,Africaisstillthemainsourceofmalariasdeathcases.
Africahasneverbeenthemostadvancedcountry,sothereasonthatmalariaisstillabigissue
thereisbecausemostpeopledonothavethemoneytopayfortreatment.Malariacanbeeither
deadlyoritcanbeextremelymild.LeeanneGelletlysays,feverrecursevery48hours,and
mostvictimswilldiefrominfectionifnottreated(Gelletly47).Malariaisadeadlydisease,but
scientistshavefoundamedicinethatcuresit.Thismedicineisexceptionallyexpensivethough.
SomecommonsymptomsthatAmySquyres,whohasexperiencedmalariaherself,saidthatshe
feltlikeshehadtheflu.Shesaidthatherjointsandherbodywereaching.Eventhoughshewas
inAfrica,shestillgotallthemedicinethatsheneededbecauseshehadthemoney,butmost
peopleinAfricadonot.IntheEconomistitsays,upto85%ofpeopleinfectedwithmalariado
notshowsymptomsandtheparasitecanlaydormantformonthsoryearsbeforeemerging
(Breaking).Thisisverydangerous,becauseifpeoplearentshowinganysymptoms,thenthey
canttreatit.Ifpeopledonttreatit,thentheywillendupdying,becauseitmightgetreallybad
reallyquick,andatthatpointthereisnothinganyonecandoit.

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Malariamostlyoccursinyoungerpeople.WorldHealthOrganizationsays,85%of
malariadeathsoccurunder5yearsofage(10Facts).Malariaismoredangerouswhenever
peopleareyounger.Adultsstillgetmalaria,buttheirbodiescanfightitoffbetter.Children's
bodiesarestillgrowing,sotheyarenotasstrongandcantfightoffaswellasadults.Itisnot
goodthattheyoungpeoplearedyingfrommalaria,becausetheyaretheonesthatneedto
reproduce.Withouttheyoungpeopletogrowup,thepopulationcouldpotentiallydecrease.
Allaroundtheworld,medicinesareadvancingandgettingmuchbetter.Theonlyissue
withthisisthatnotallthecountriesareadvancing,soitmakesitnearlyimpossibleforcountries
likeAfricatogetmedicinefortheirsurvival,becauseitistooexpensive.NancyDaysaysinher
book,Formanyyears,peoplehaveusedquinine,asubstancethatcomesfromthebarkofa
cinchonatree,totreatmalaria(Day12).SoPeopleusedtousenaturalmedicinetocuremalaria.
Thisisnottypicallyusedanymore,becausetheinfectionhavegrowntobestronger,therefore
thenaturalmedicinedoesntworkanymore.Therearenewdrugsthatworkwellthough.Kevin
Cunninghamsays,LariamistheantimalarialchoiceintheUS,butcoststoomuchandishardto
findinmuchofAfrica(Cunningham102).SinceAfricaisa3rdworldcontinent,theydonot
haveinsurance.Thesepeoplehavenohopeontheirown.IftheAfricanpeoplegetmalariathey
mightdie,becausetheyhavenomedicine.Treatmentformalariaisnearlyimpossibletogetin
Africa,sothatiswhysomanydeathsoccurthere.
OverallpeopleinAfricaneedhelpinordertobeabletosurvivemalaria.Thepopulation
hasnoopportunitytogetthemedicinetheyneed.Youngpeoplearedyingacrossthecontinentof
Africa,becausethereisnoresourcesforthesepeople.Ifallthepeoplefortunateenoughtolivein
anadvancedcountrydonatedtoanorganizationtohelpgetpeopleinAfricathemedicinethat

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theyneed,thedeathsfrommalariawouldgodown.ThereisanorganizationcalledMalariaNo
More.Peoplecandonatetothis,andthentheorganizationwillgiveoutnetstopeopleinAfrica
tokeepthemosquitoesfrombitingthechildrenandpeopleinAfrica,andgiveoutmedicineto
thealreadyinfectedpeople.

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WorkCited
"Buzzoff:Scientistsmaysoonbeabletopreventmosquitoesfromspreadingmalaria."Junior
Scholastic/CurrentEvents3Mar.2014:14+.StudentEdition.Web.17Nov.2015.
"BreakingthefeverMalariaeradication."TheEconomist10Oct.2015:23(US).Student
Edition.Web.17Nov.2015
.
Cunningham,Kevin.Diseasesinhistory.Malaria.Greensboro,N.C.:MorganReynoldsPub.,
2009.Print.
Day,Nancy.Malaria,WestNile,andothermosquitobornediseases.BerkeleyHeights,NJ:
EnslowPublishers,2001.Print.
Gelletly,LeeAnne.AIDSandHealthIssuesinAfrica.Philadelphia:MasonCrest,2014.PDF.
Isle,Mick.Malaria.NewYork:RosenPub.Group,2001.Print.
Maxmen,Amy."CanWeRelyonthePrivateSectortoHaltMalariainAfrica?Aidorganizations
aresellingdiscountdrugsdirectlytoshopkeepersinhopesofquellingtheparasitic
disease."Newsweek10Oct.2014.StudentEdition.Web.17Nov.2015.
Squyres,AmyM.Personalinterview.22Nov.2015.
"10FactsonMalariainAfrica."WorldHealthOrganization.Web.16Nov.2015.

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I.

Introduction
iHook
Transition
Thesis

II.Origin
descriptionofdisease
whereitstarted
symptoms

III.Effects
Whoisbeingaffected?
Whatishappeningtothepeopleshortterm?
Whatishappeningtothepeoplelongterm?

IV.Prevention/Treatment
Whatisbeingdone/whathasbeendone?
Howisithelping?
Whatneedstobedone?
VI.Conclusion
Whatsthepoint?