Malaria as a Killer Disease

MALARIA AS A KILLER DISEASE


Brethren, is another bright new day for bright friends and fans of your kind. If I say I’m happy to be here again, then I’m a liar; honestly I’m not just happy but so delighted. Yes, because it’s another moment to discuss with my likes. A moment to talk to people standing on this rostrum with me. Don’t forget, my interest remains, “a panacea”.

Truly, it’s wholly inexplicable to see two bonafide mad men fighting on the street. Same is applicable to observing two legible fishes competing over a certain prey in the water. The similarity of the above observations is that, in the former, one would not know the actual cause/origin of the fight unless you’re one of them. Or, would you, if you happen to be the observer? Similarly, in the latter, you may not know the real reason for the competition between the two fishes because the prey in question might be so minute (tiny). These and more similar various observations take place virtually every day. Most of them are natural or mysterious which make them strictly inexplicable. But, some or few are man-made. That is, being initiated or founded by mankind just to suit their personal interest.

Few days ago, a good and bosom friend of mine residing in Lagos State just called to share one of his social gist with me as usual. He started with the clause, “Nigeria is a very funny country”. I responded with a bit smile which was invisible to him. I smiled because such or similar citations amongst the Nigerian citizenry come often, if not daily. After the sudden clause which came as a preamble, he proceeded by telling me that he regretted being a Nigerian or finding himself in Nigeria. This time, I was pissed off because it was unlike him. I know him too well right from childhood; he had always been one of the men who believe that Nigeria could suddenly become better than any other countries in the world. So at that juncture, I became more attentive to his gist or about to be disclosed ordeal because, “a toad does not run in the afternoon in vain”. My good friend told me that, two previous days before he called, one of his colleagues in the office displayed a very pathetic and disgusting drama before him. And, the drama took place right in the office. He and the colleague in question share an office. So I asked him what the drama was like. He said that his colleague just walked into the office that fateful day, morning precisely, and slumped on the floor immediately. According to him, initially he thought the young man was kidding but later discovered that he had really fainted. He went straight to him, stood him up and lean him on one of the upholstery chairs lying in the office. As soon as the fellow regained his consciousness after taking some water coupled with rest, my friend tried to find out what really prompted the scenario. He responded that his eyes were rotating in such a manner that he couldn’t control himself. He asked him if he was facing any medical problem, and he replied “yes”. According to my friend, the victim had earlier gone for a medical laboratory test/screening and his result read two pluses in malaria parasite. The lab technician listed some drugs for him and also referred him to his doctor, but he ignored both instructions because he was still physically strong. He only went for panadol to calm the slight headache he was having with the impression that all was well. Therefore, he took the lab result for granted. Unfortunately, he found himself in that mess on that fateful morning. At that juncture after narrating his ordeal, my friend felt like giving him thousands of dirty slaps. In fact, he was totally disgusted going by his narration on phone.

Brethren, we’re discussing malaria. Malaria is a serious disease caught from mosquitoes and which causes periods of fever. We’ve three types of mosquitoes in existence and they are Culex, Aedes and Anopheles mosquitoes. Amongst these three, it’s only anopheles mosquito that can cause malaria. It’s the only specie that possesses the bacteria/parasite known as ‘plasmodium” which solely constitutes malaria. It’s plasmodium which is being injected by the female anopheles mosquitoes that causes malaria in the human body. So many things can attract mosquitoes to our immediate environment. But above all, dirt remains the most existing point of attraction to all mosquitoes. It’s a fact that water attracts mosquitoes enormously because that is the natural habitat for their breeding. But mostly, they feel more comfortable in dirty water because it is only in such place they can survive effectively. Thus, damp and dirty environment remains the common habitat for mosquitoes. In other words, we must continue to keep our surroundings clean to ensure that we say good bye to mosquitoes because they are not our friends.

Apart from the above, many people infected by malaria parasite mostly take it for granted because they ignorantly think that it’s a minor disease/infection just as it was stated in my friend’s story. Due to this, such people end up playing with the disease, if not their lives, when being infected by it. Brethren, malaria flogs; it disciplines; it maims. Above all, it kills. It has killed or maimed billions of individuals in the past before the actual drugs were discovered. Despite the discovering of the drug, people still die on daily basis as a result of malaria disease, due to ignorance.

We must learn how to consult the lab technicians if any symptom(s) emerges. We must also learn how to see our respective doctors and adhere to their advice(s) having being consulted. Most importantly, we should not forget that life is extremely precious and has no duplicate or spare part. We must continue to think in the right direction in order to live long and remain fit to carry out our daily obligations. “To be forewarned is to be forearmed”. Think about it!



FDN NWAOZOR

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