Saving People from Malaria

NOTHING BUT NETS-How Does it Work?

By Susan Cafferty, Parish Care Director

Our United Methodist mission project for this month is the Nothing but Nets project for Sierra Leone.  The focus is saving lives through the prevention of malaria.  So, I thought I would share a little information about the illness malaria.  What is malaria? How does a bed net prevent it?  Why does malaria happen in Sierra Leone?

Malaria is actually a group of 4 illnesses, and together they are among the most common human illnesses worldwide.  Malaria affects 300 to 500 million people each year and causes 1-2 million deaths EVERY YEAR.  Most of those killed are children less than 5 years old. 

Malaria is common in tropical areas, especially in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America.  About 1000 people in the U.S. are infected with malaria every year (almost all of the infections are brought back after visits to other countries).

Malaria is a parasite that infects red blood cells, the cells that carry oxygen in our bodies.  It is spread from person to person by mosquito bites from a special type of mosquito called Anopheles.  This type of mosquito is most active between dusk and at dawn.

Malaria infection develops several days after the mosquito bite.  Usually, malaria begins with a sort of vague feeling of being weak and tired.  Then, a high fever and chills develop very rapidly.  Along with fever and chills, there is nausea and a rapid heart beat.  After 2-6 hours, the fever falls, and the infected person has severe sweating and fatigue.  The fever, chills, and sweating repeat themselves every couple of days.  The worst malaria cause shock, problems breathing, liver problems, and even rupture of the spleen.  You can see, this is a very nasty illness, one that kills and disables huge numbers of people.

There is no vaccine to prevent malaria.  Medicines are available to treat malaria, although many strains of the disease are becoming resistant to the drugs.  Travelers can use medicines to prevent malaria when they are in tropical countries, but these medicines are often unaffordable and not regularly obtainable for those who live in these countries.

How can we prevent malaria?  One way, used in previous decades is to kill the mosquitoes that spread the illness.  In many areas, there have been extensive campaigns to drain wetlands, and spray insecticides (DDT works the best).  Unfortunately, we know the negative impacts of both wetland loss and DDT. 

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to prevent malaria is to use bed nets, preferably those treated with insecticide.  A bed net keeps the mosquitoes away during the nighttime hours when they are most active.  It doesn’t require large scale spraying or draining wetlands.  Bed nets cost about $10.00 each.

Sierra Leone is a small nation of 6.2 million people, located in western Africa.  It is one of the world’s poorest countries, and a terrible civil war was fought there in the late 1990s.

Large numbers of children and pregnant women are at risk of getting malaria in this country.

That’s why our United Methodist Church in Minnesota has placed such a strong emphasis on bed nets.

Think about it - $10.00 to save a life.  Who is your neighbor?