The history and origin f Malaria Essay

Malaria has a history as it is a disease that is curable and preventable. It is said to be one of the oldest diseases in the world and the second-worst malaria parasite of humans (Penn Medicine, 2014). There were terms used to describe this disease in the early years, which included jungle fever, marsh fever and swamp fever. There were misconceptions about the transmission of the disease until the twentieth century. The term malaria was used because fevers that were thought to be caused by the air that was from the marsh. Therefore, the Italians used the terms mala, meaning bad, and aria, meaning air are where malaria comes from and eventually became the name of the disease that caused fevers (Kakkilaya, 2011). Some identify malaria as the "King of Diseases" (Tangpukdee, Duangdee, Wilairatana & Krudsood, 2009).
The origin of malaria was once thought to be in Asia. Originating in West and Central Africa, there is a speculation that malaria began among apes (Kakkilaya, 2011). There is evidence that it was present as early as 2700 BC as symptoms were described in many ancient writings (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2012). Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, a French army surgeon is credited identifying parasites in the blood of a patient suffering from malaria in 1880 (CDC). Information related to that period of time indicated that at least half of the people around the world were exposed to or familiar with malaria (Kakkilaya, 2011).
It was indicated that malaria was from the greater spot-nosed African monkey (CNRS, 2011). Other information suggested that the origin of malaria was chickens (Peeples, 2009). These speculations, regarding apes and the origin of the pathogen that causes malaria, as well as its evolutionary history of the important are deemed controversial by others (Liu et al., 2010). In the twentieth century, mosquitoes were discovered to be the primary vector of malaria transmission to humans (Malaria Policy, 2013). A more recent study found that wild-living apes in central Africa are widely infected with parasites that, genetically, are nearly identical to human Plasmodium vivax (Penn Medicine, 2014). Attention was given to malaria in the United States when the Panama Canal was being constructed because at least 21,000 of the 26,000 infected workers were admitted to hospitals (Malaria Policy, 2013). There were concentrated efforts to control the disease and progress was made to stop the spread of malaria in 1951 (Malaria Policy). As a result of the advances in medicine, the World Health Organization (WHO) was able to make global strides in fighting malaria using various treatments and surveillance (Malaria Policy). Pathogenesis The pathogenesis of any disease is the relation of the host and parasitic factors that are responsible for causing the pathology. The malaria parasite is transmitted by the female anopheles mosquito. The most common parasite used in literature is Plasmodium falciparum ( P falciparum ) although five identified species of the parasite causing human malaria are Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. knowles I