World Malaria Day 2023: Spreading Awareness and Prevention

When a mosquito bites you, it transmits the deadly parasitic disease known as malaria. The mosquito injects malaria parasites into your bloodstream when it bites you. Not a virus or a particular sort of bacteria, rather parasites are what actually cause malaria.

Malaria can result in serious health issues such as convulsions, brain damage, breathing difficulties, organ failure, and even death if it is not treated. Malaria is still widespread in tropical and subtropical nations while being rare in temperate areas. More than 400,000 people die from malaria each year, infecting close to 290 million people worldwide.

Common Preventive Measures 

Avoid mosquito bites if you reside in or are visiting a region where malaria is prevalent. Most mosquito activity occurs between the dark and sunrise. In order to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes, you need to follow some common measures.

Skin covering:  Put on long sleeves and trousers. Put your shirt in the sleeve and your pant legs in the socks.

Apply skin-safe insect repellent:  DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), para-menthane-3,8-diol (PMD), and 2-undecanone are a few examples of these repellents. Avoid using a spray on your face. Avoid giving OLE or PMD-containing products to kids under the age of 3.

Sleeping in a net:  When you sleep, bed nets, especially those treated with pesticides like permethrin, can prevent mosquito bites.

Every year on April 25, WHO observes World Malaria Day to highlight the combined drive and dedication of the international malaria community in collaborating towards the shared objective of a world free of malaria.