MALARIA TRULY KILLS; MY ENCOUNTER

No African is alien to the causative agent of Malaria. They are Mosquitoes. An insect that is actually a part of us as we grew in Sub Sahara Africa if I may say. Science Lessons taught us too about the Anopheles, which is the name of the mosquito specie that carries the malaria parasite in question. There's a popular saying of how Malaria kills and like seriously, I have ignorantly always wondered how?

An Uncle of mine was clinically confirmed dead about a decade ago. Here was a very agile, seeming strong man in his late thirties. He had been feeling dizzy and uneasy for almost a Month yet he never bothered. The uneasiness became rather unbearable so he simply walked himself to the Hospital and in few hours, he was dead.

Despite the fact that we bemoaned the fact that we lost a very promising young man to an ordinary, yet preventable Malaria, the African mentality in us still maintained that he might have been bewitched. We found it difficult to believe that an adult could be wiped out by Malaria.
A preventable malaria? We felt that as ridiculous.

 But hey! Malaria truly kills.

Some months ago however, I noticed my strength was failing me.  At a time I attributed it to the stress of my job and I took a few days off to rest, yet it persisted. The symptoms later came in form of anemia and I began to take blood tonics too. 

   

Yet no improvement.

 My bones began to crack (couldn't just bear to give a name to what was happening to my bones) and I chuckle when I think of old age. Not a fan of visiting hospitals though, I totally ignored still and went about my normal activities.
Constant dizziness came knocking, closely followed by the feeling of wanting to slump, yet pregnancy was completely ruled out-lol.

I simply googled for a clue but instead was pointing to unimaginable terminal diseases. This scared me so much that I had to drag myself to see a doctor. Alas, a blood test revealed Malaria.

Ordinary Malaria be causing me all of these symptoms?

This is about the commonest type of ailment in sub Saharan African Countries, hence the reason for the complacency. Many had actually died just because they got so comfortable and complacent about Malaria illness until they are no more. My late uncle was one of them.

But here’s the thing;

Malaria attacks and destroys your Red Blood Cells. Meanwhile, Red blood cells (RBC) are responsible for delivering Oxygen to your tissues. As Malaria progresses, a number of things happen. You become anemic and would not be able to get enough Oxygen to your vital organs. The damaged Red Blood Cells then releases a number of substances into the intravascular space and this could make your blood vessels become leaky. It could even clog up small blood vessels to kidneys and your brain.

Malaria could make one to slip into a coma with severe brain swelling or stop the kidney from working properly. One could even be short of breath. So, no surprises it could kill.

Caused by Anopheles Mosquito, Malaria fever is common in sub Saharan African countries. The insect bites releases the parasite into the blood which multiplies afterwards.

Facts about it;

•          Malaria is a hundred percent preventable and treatable.
•          It kills hundreds of thousands of people each year. And according to UNICEF, Malaria remains the largest killer of children. It kills one child usually under the age of 5 every 30 seconds. So also Malaria kills one person, every ten minutes in Tanzania.
•          Common symptoms starts with shivering and chills, followed by a high fever, sweating and some other funny symptoms.
•          It is not contagious. Only transmits by blood transfusion or organ transplants.
•          It thrives in places like stagnant polluted water, mangrove swamps, grassy ditches, the edges of streams and rivers and small temporary rain pools. In an average African homes; near gutters, dark dirty shades, bathrooms and toilets especially if left unkempt. So also, damp areas, usually filled with moisture and can hold water, they could thrive in pans and pails with water overtime too.
•          Could be detected via a blood test.

So, don’t just take it for granted, not anymore that you know that it is a silent killer, prevent it.

Picture above: A mosquito insect.
Source :  Internet.