The combined efforts of advanced science to decipher the genomes of the Anopheles mosquito and the malaria parasite and of traditional means are being done too little too late. Is it because the suffering population is in third world countries?
The swamps were first drained in ancient times and dried a second time already in the 20s (in the twentieth century), but the fever struck and killed the settlers until the 40s. Despite the increasing use of spraying the centers of Anopheles mosquitoes in particular and mosquitoes in general. Only targeted and continuous treatments led to the eradication of fever in Israel. The most common substance used to kill mosquitoes was DDT, which for years was poured into reservoirs all over the world and sprayed everywhere without restraint - Dr. Deborah Ben Shaul told me that during her work in India, tons of poison were spilled in this way, and to this day it is found in all living systems, in "developed" countries it is used today The poisons are fading away, but in the parts of the world infected with malaria, there are still huge deposits of DDT that are a continuous threat to habitats in which there is a great variety of life (some of it unknown) and interesting. By drainage - or alternately by planting eucalyptus trees. Eucalyptus trees were brought to the area by Arab traders a long time before, and in any case, their effectiveness in draining swamps has not been proven, but we gained green forests and parks, and birds of prey gained places to nest, hide, and sleep, and for that our pioneers will be blessed. The swamps were first drained in ancient times and drained a second time already in 20 (in the twentieth century), but the fever struck and killed settlers until the 40s. Despite the increasing use of spraying the centers of Anopheles mosquitoes in particular and mosquitoes in general. Only targeted and continuous treatments led to the eradication of fever in Israel. The most common substance used to kill mosquitoes was DDT, which for years was poured into reservoirs all over the world and sprayed everywhere without restraint - Dr. Deborah Ben Shaul told me that during her work in India, tons of poison were spilled in this way, and to this day it is found in all living systems, in "developed" countries it is used today The toxins are fading away, but in the parts of the world infected with malaria, there are still huge DDT deposits that are a continuous threat to habitats in which there is a large (partly unknown) and interesting variety of life. Despite the drying of the swamps and the extermination of mosquitoes, there is a possibility of a local appearance of the disease, this is due to the repeated formation of breeding centers Anopheles mosquitoes on the one hand and on the other hand carry: guest workers, new immigrants from equatorial countries, contacts with Egyptians and Jordan, trips and visits of Israelis to infected countries and more.
(In 2001, the World Health Organization WHO reports about 30 thousand European travelers who returned home infected with fever!!!).
The Hebrew name - fever symbolizes the headaches, fever attacks and chills characteristic of the disease, and in cases where the parasite reaches the brain tissues, it feels as if a drill is being drilled into the patient's head (I heard about this from a friend who was attacked this way). Until the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a lot of ignorance regarding the disease, and as evidence, the name MALARIA comes from Italian and literally means bad air, meaning that the givers of the name thought that the disease came from breathing "poisoned" air in areas where fever prevails. They increased to do the English who, upon arriving in the equatorial regions - during the colonial period - associated the appearance of the disease with a typical tree for humid areas - yellow-stemmed acacia, ACACIA XANTHOPHLOEA and from their "understanding" that the acacia was the cause of the disease, they called the tree the fever acacia. Even today, ignorance is widespread even among professionals, for example: on a trip to Kenya, two doctors prevented their grandson from entering a pool of water to wade, claiming that "the child may catch a fever as a result of contact with the water" ignorance that can be harmful since the attitude to the risk and its understanding is incorrect.
The connection between the parasite and the mosquito and the reincarnation of the parasite was first described by Ross, an English researcher who worked in India and received a Nobel Prize for his research. Today it is known that the fever parasite (the common species in Africa) PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM is transmitted by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito (the common species in Africa) ANOPHELES GAMBIAE P VIVAX (in South America and Asia) occupies an "honorable" place and causes 50 percent of malaria cases in the world. In addition to the PM, there are three more species of parasites which, because they are less common, less known and less treated, than 400 species of Anopheles mosquitoes, about 60 are known to transmit malaria (and other diseases), but about most of them there is more hidden than known.
The course of the disease begins when a mosquito bites a person infected with fever (during an attack when the parasites are alive and active in the blood system). The mosquito, which needs human blood as a source of protein to stimulate the reproductive system, sucks up parasites with the blood dose. Next, the mosquito must expel the "plug" of parasites before drawing blood, this along with excreting a substance that prevents clotting (which causes an allergic reaction - red and itchy) and this is how the mosquito transmits parasites to a new person. The parasites settle in the liver - go through a cycle, multiply and at a certain point - between eight and five - ten days, a "population explosion" occurs, then the parasites enter the bloodstream, settle in red blood cells and multiply, when a blood cell "explodes", dozens of parasites are released into the bloodstream and settle in additional blood cells, an "explosion" The blood corpuscles cause the release of substances that cause the symptoms of malaria (headaches, chills, etc.).
In order to survive, the Anopheles mosquito needs a warm to temperate climate and bodies of water, (for some species moisture is sufficient in the rosette of leaves) the mosquito larvae hatch from eggs laid by the female in the water and within a few days grow, morph and bloom as adults on the way to their vampiric mission. Because of the adaptability of Anopheles mosquitoes on the one hand, global warming on the other hand, and also because of an increase in agricultural areas (which create puddles in places that were previously dry) in deforestation, the construction of dams and the creation of new bodies of water, an increase in population density, mosquitoes are becoming more common even in areas where they were not there until a few years ago, The increasing distribution of mosquitoes in areas where the level of health services and the general level of health is poor, causes the spread of the plague. At the same time, the epicenters of the fever as an epidemic remained (for now) in the equatorial regions.
According to publications of the World Health Organization (WHO) towards 2003, the number of people infected with malaria is estimated at five hundred million, of which three million die a year! (every 10 seconds a person dies) 90 percent of those infected and dead in Africa (south of the Sahara)! Due to a poor nutritional status, the most victims are children, child mortality in infected areas attracts families to have more children and the burden of feeding them is heavy, a poor food level leads to excessive vulnerability to the disease and thus the wheel of poverty turns. The organization estimates that 40 percent of the world's population - about 2.5 billion people - in 90 countries are threatened by the plague, more than the impact of all other plagues.
The malaria parasite competes with the AIDS virus (and tuberculosis) in the number of victims. But AIDS is a new epidemic, while malaria has been known to mankind since the development of agriculture. The study of the human genome and comparing it to the genome of the malaria parasite showed, among other things, that there were reactions to malaria as early as 10.000 years ago, but only with the beginning of agricultural settlement (in the Fertile Crescent 8000 years ago) did malaria appear as a deadly disease.
That is, the people are the spreaders of the disease, while the Anopheles mosquito serves as the carrier of the parasite - only in places where there are sick people. If to this day there are large areas in Africa where cattle breeding is avoided (fortunately for the wild animals and their keepers) because of the spread of the tza fly... then throughout history the Anopheles mosquito has prevented or rejected conquests and settlements by colonialist forces... and in many cultures there is a special attitude towards malaria: the Romans built A temple in honor of the goddess of malaria that appeared every year in the summer, in China, it was offered to those who went to malaria areas to allow their wives to remarry, there is an assumption that the enlarged spleen in Egyptian mummies is because of malaria, Alexander the Great when he was at his peak died of malaria (with the blood of his days), Jings-Khan avoided the completion Occupation of Europe due to a malaria attack. There is an opinion that in the Middle Ages Italy was protected because conquerors were afraid of the inventions of the disease to which Dante wrote: "A fever that turns the hornbills blue and trembles all over". The famous saying from the beginning of the XNUMXth century about areas in Kenya that are "suitable even for an English gentleman" is known because they were free of malaria... and contrary to this saying, those gentlemen treated West Africa as "the white man's grave".
It turns out that despite the existence of malaria species that also harm other mammals and even birds, the fact that malaria evolved with humanity requires the fact that malaria is unique to humans and therefore the possibility of the development of a natural defense is required. It damages the spheroids that are deformed, therefore genetic mutations that cause the shape of the red blood cells to be distorted create spheroids that are immune to the malaria parasite attack, and this is an advantage in infected areas, when a malaria epidemic breaks out, those with the mutation will have an advantage and they will "multiply". Example: In those who carry a copy of the gene for sickle cell anemia (who are not sick), some of the blood cells are protected against the malaria parasite because of their distorted shape (sickle shape), which means that where there is malaria they will have an evolutionary advantage, and indeed it turns out that in the inhabitants of the equatorial regions of Africa the percentage of carriers of the gene copy is large For sickle cell anemia, as you move away from areas of fever, their relative number decreases, this is of course a comfort since this also increases the chance for these carriers to give birth to offspring who will be sick with sickle cell anemia.
In a study conducted by scientists from the University of Rome (Italy) in Burkina Faso (Central Africa), a gene was identified that the researchers called HBC that produces hemoglobin that is slightly different from normal, and to their surprise they found that the carriers of one copy of the mutant gene make up about 22 percent of the population and their chances of being affected by the malaria parasite are 29 percent lower (than those who are not HBC carriers), descendants of two parents who have a copy of HBC inherit a copy from each parent, meaning they carry two copies, HBC and have almost complete immunity (93 percent). Since such a mutation is a huge evolutionary advantage, it is not clear to the researchers why this feature did not spread in large areas, the answer is probably in shortcomings that have not yet been identified (as in the case of sickle cell anemia).
In the positive case, it is possible that this is a new mutation and therefore there was not enough time for it to spread. It was possible to expect and find traditional medicines that were developed in the inhabitants of infected areas. Indeed, in South America, the natives know that to prevent and treat malaria, the stem bark of a certain plant must be boiled, the liquid must be squeezed out and the extract drunk. The plant is CHINCHONA OFFICINAL, known by its common name in the West, quinine in China. Malaria has been treated for thousands of years with the help of a species of wormwood, ARTEMISIA. The active ingredient in wormwood: artemisinin attacks the iron compounds in the parasite's body and quickly destroys it before the parasite has enough time to adapt to the new environment. In the 60s, with the cultural revolution in China, among other rejections of "Western culture", the "Western" medicines for malaria were also rejected, in an attempt to utilize traditional knowledge, attempts were made to utilize wormwood, Chinese scientists exhausted the active ingredient and developed a cure. The information, with the seeds of the plant. They came to a Swiss pharmaceutical company, to enable research and development the size of wormwood fields in Tanzania and these were used as a reservoir for the creation of the drug. Recently they started planting wormwood bushes in Kenya in order to exhaust the active substance ARTEMISNIN that will be used for healing, mixed with chemical drugs Artemisinin is used for prevention. The plants will be dried and packed in bags (like tea) that can be brewed and drunk - a bitter drink (like wormwood) but easy to market for preparation and consumption.... A large pharmaceutical company has launched a drug (for treatment, not prevention) in DRAP, from wormwood extract in combination with a chemical drug, a new drug based on Partially on plant material, i.e. nature carries great hope. (Sold under the trade name COARTEM) In Africa there are medicines to reduce fever and to treat symptoms: the extract of the baobab fruit contains adenosine which has a large concentration of vitamin C and therefore strengthens, the extract of the bark of the Acacia species is known by various tribes as a fever reducer and pain reliever, but as far as I know there are no traditional medicines in Africa Uniqueness for the prevention or treatment of malaria. Since the people of the West encountered malaria, quinine was the most common medicine to such an extent that special soft drinks containing quinine were created, the best known of which is the tonic water (the origin of the name tonic is from Rome and its meaning is tonic), the tonic was bitter to the connoisseur's taste of the English colonialists to "sweeten the pill" And to neutralize the bitterness they added gin and that's how gin & tonic was born...
As someone who works in fever areas (with guided tours) and doesn't like medicine, I use a homeopathic medicine derived from CHINCHONA and drink a tonic, (doing everything not to get stung and hoping for the best). This is of course not a recommendation to replace the drugs recommended by the health bureaus. The problem is that as time passes, the malaria parasites develop resistance to the drugs and thus stimulate the drug manufacturers to a continuous and Sisyphean race. Unlike many other drugs designed to stimulate and stimulate the body's natural immune system, the more effective drugs - for the prevention and treatment of malaria - are based on poisons designed to kill the parasite and as such cause unpleasant side effects and are prohibited from long-term use... in addition to this because of the presence of more than one species of parasite and because Rapid development of resistance (to poisons), in most cases at least two drugs are needed. So that to this day the winners of that Sisyphean race are the mosquitoes and malaria parasites.
Following the warnings of the World Health Organization about the geographical spread of malaria, the few studies that are interpreted in three main directions were encouraged: A - finding a vaccine that would be given once (injection) and would be active over time. It was recently published in SCIENCE that two groups of researchers (each separately) developed such a vaccine, a group of researchers working at DRAP developed a vaccine called G 25 which has already been successfully tested on monkeys and they hope to put it on the market shortly. Another group working in Zambia has developed a weakened strain of the parasite that is introduced into the body and causes the T cells to develop antibodies, but they do not give assurance of high percentages of effectiveness, also this vaccine is not suitable for children, but remember that 80 percent of the seriously injured are children, so this is not a satisfactory solution . B - Genetic treatment of mosquitoes in two directions, one in an attempt to sterilize males and thus thin out their population to a level that will not pose a risk (a method that is successful in exterminating pests in agriculture), the other is also genetic research in an attempt to produce a mosquito that will not be able to transmit the parasite, a "genetic mosquito" One that multiplies in the infected places will lower the level of the disease by considerable percentages. Recently, the Anopheles GAMBIA genome has been mapped and the chance to identify the functions of the genes is approaching and with it the chance of a solution C - genetic treatment of the parasite itself with the aim of neutralizing its "bad features" .... As in the case of the mosquito, the genomes of P VIVAX and P FALCIPARUM have also been identified and with the mapping the hope of finding a solution arises. After the appropriate vaccine is developed, there is already someone who prepares the "manufacturer", it turns out that it is possible through genetic engineering to "teach" goats to produce many different products with milk, including a vaccine against malaria...
Another study identifies the genes responsible for the mosquito's sense of smell with the aim of finding an "ultimate mosquito repellent" until extreme solutions are found. All the bodies dealing with this recommend using known, accepted, simple and cheap (relatively) means: since mosquitoes are active during the hours of darkness and since they find their "prey" through The sense of smell, are attracted to the smell of the body and especially to the secretion of carbon dioxide, after all, apart from taking medicines to prevent fever, the most effective, the best, and the most correct means is - avoiding bites, you can avoid bites in different ways, starting from applying repellants directly on the body through emitting repellants into the living space ( lanterns, burning fuses, etc.) The best (according to Who) use of blankets and other bedding dipped in pyrethrin, a substance produced from a plant that grows in the fields of Africa - PYRETHRUM roseum by extracting the plant (whole) produce a natural and friendly insect repellent For the environment that can be used as a powder or as a liquid (after dissolving in essential oils - natural) we know this material when it was sold at the time under the commercial name Flet, fabrics treated with pyrethrin retain the property of repelling mosquitoes for up to a year!
Even though malaria is considered the deadliest of the diseases, since it is typical of "failed" regions, like many other "exotic" diseases that do not pose too much of a threat to the residents of the "developed" countries, the same is true in this case: the budgets directed to finding solutions are zero in relation to the terrible damage to poor and underprivileged populations The possibility of creating public pressure. That's why the "hope" is ironic that due to climatic and other changes on a global scale due to which malaria is also spreading to the regions of the "developed" countries (which until recently were considered "clean"), a spread that brings the danger of malaria to the doorstep of the Western world and causes fear and apprehension in societies The "convenience" (and the wealth), changes that will increase the recognition and the need for allocating budgets and directing research forces to find a solution.
