Scientists Battle the Bite

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The West Nile Virus, which has been a problem in Africa and the Middle East for a long time, only recently appeared in North America.  While it is a serious health risk, it is nothing compared with the huge problems mosquitoes cause as they spread malaria.

The global impact of this disease is staggering.  Between three hundred and five hundred million people develop this disease every year.

Although malaria has been known about for thousands of years, its root cause was only discovered in the nineteenth century, when Charles Laveran identified a parasite called plasmodium in the blood of victims of malaria.  For this important discovery he received the Nobel prize for medicine.

It was not until 1897 that the carrier of this disease causing organism was finally identified as the little mosquito.  Mosquitoes carry plasmodium in their stomachs and when they bite us they inadvertently inject us with plasmodium loaded saliva.

Once in the body, the plasmodium parasites move into our red blood cells, where they multiply rapidly until the red blood cells explode.  The bursting cells release many substances into the body, causing high fever and shivering.  If untreated these nasty parasites will then hide out in the liver until they become immune to our antimalarial drugs.

So next time, remember those mosquitoes are not just pests, they can be lethal enemies.