The Spread of Malaria

Malaria is an intracellular parasite. It lives inside its host cell. In humans, they are either inside the red blood cells or liver cells. They get out of the parasitized cell only when it ruptures releasing merozoites. Their stay outside the cell is very brief not lasting longer than an hour. This time is not enough for the immune system to react to the presence of the parasite. Once they get inside another cell then they can no longer seen by the immune system.
Even if the parasite is inside the cell they can travel long distance through either through the flight of the infected mosquito or through the movement of the human host in its activities. The spread of the parasite through the mosquito vector is limited by its flight range as well as the life span of the vector. The spread of the parasite through the human host is limitless considering the ease of transportation nowadays and the lifespan of the human.
Using the above mentioned information there is great chance of the malaria parasite to spread to areas where there is vector mosquito. This information likewise help malaria control officers to eliminate the parasite in a community. The first and foremost step is to identify the communities with indigenous malaria case/s in past two weeks. These are the communities with malaria transmission. The second step is to apply vector control either indoor residual house spraying or insecticide treatment of mosquito nets. The third step is to request the community members to sleep inside the mosquito nets every night regardless of the vector control method applied. The fourth step is to conduct case finding and prompt treatment of those found positive for malaria. The fifth step is to conduct follow up smear every week to those found positive plus house to house case finding activity. The sixth step is to conduct case finding every two weeks until after two to six months from the last malaria case in the community. The seventh step is to set up surveillance system to detect introduce malaria case/s before the second week of illness.
TThe steps mentioned earlier will lead to elimination of malaria in the community.It will seem complicated or costly but with step by step application this will only be burden in the initial implementation and cost of intervention will diminish at the end of sixth month.