Malaria is the major "silent" killer in Africa & is spreading in all climates, even in the UK we get mosquitos, albeit not carrying the parasite that transmits the malaria to humans. It is known that only the female mosquitos carry this parasite because only the pregnant (carrying eggs) females are blood-suckers. They innocently carry this parasite which travels up the mouth tube of the mosquito as it bites its food source, be it a warm bloody animal or a human body. The female requires the protein from the blood to help her develop her eggs so quite innocently passes on this parasite. In Mauritius we were advised to check all containers, including old car tyres and discarded bottles, cans etc thrown on rubbish tips as well our own gardens and ensure nothing that contains water is left upturned. A couple of years ago there was an outbreak of "chichengunya" which left many tourists afraid of coming to Mauritius, the government took immediate action to ensure this does not happen again, and to date it is laying dormant, waiting for a chance to re-enter the island, just a few plots of land in sugar can territory or an unattended piece of land is all it takes, so if Goa is to avoid this (I believe this curse travelled across Mauritius, to Reunion Island, and even in India, probably in Goa too but certainly in the South India where the symptoms were so harsh that young infants & the elderly had no protection against this and many died as a result. The survivors, of which my family in Mauritius were also affected, some were to have no ongoing symptoms which was very lucky indeed for my wife and both our children as many people still have aches and pains in their backs, legs & hip areas. Even though the chickungunya, a form of viral malaria or similar caused loss of trade & tourists to Mauritius, in much the same way as many people will not travel for lengthy trips to Africa, where only the brave will venture, for adventure, but when its a case of having to go, for work reasons, all precautions must be taken. Here in the UK, people who catch Malaria are treated but not all survive, we have had some deaths here every year, tourists visiting "tropical" areas be it in Africa or India etc, these mosquitos cannot be eradicated, but controls can be put in place to ensure that there is less likelihood of them breeding out of control and unnecessarily. In Mauritius, all plots of land owned by private or public companies must have the whole site clear at least once per year, all overgrown areas must be cut down, unless they are landscaped gardens in which case no ponds or stagnant areas to be left wet, all filled in or treated to ensure no mostiks are present. With all the problems Goans face daily, it may be a little too much for us to ask everyone to be vigilant and keep guttering clear, empty pots and pans and discarded rubbish checked for stagnant water containers etc, but if everyone has the will to keep their little area clear, then maybe the risk of malaria in built-up areas and part of rurual areas ought to be less of a risk to pass through, let alone live in. Some twenty years ago, and up to about 10 years ago we were advised to take malaria tablets a week or so before we left and take them regularly until returning, and then for a further week or so. A case I read about 8 years or so ago, of a young lady who moved to Tamil Nadu, took these recommended malarial prevention tablets (they tasted quite bitter as I recall), continued to take them for the period she was in TN but after a year or so her hair started falling out and was almost bald because of the side effect of the tablets. So they are not for the long term use, only for up to a month or so. Goodness knows what else could have happened to this lady or anyone else if they took these for longer than a month or two. But how awful for her to lose her hair, and no warnings from her doctor or pharmacist. John Monteiro 03.11.07..........12.42hrs. ---------------------------------------
Sanny de Quepem <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Malaria risk in Jamaica and Goa.............Goa has also seen a rise of malaria cases in residents since last year. During the first six months of 2007, there were 788 cases. In the same period of 2006, there were 240. There have also been a few cases of malaria in travellers to Goa as recently as August. ABTA is encouraging agents and tour operators to inform their clients of the risk of malaria in these regions........Sanny de Quepem
