The Malaria Project encompasses the wild west period of medicine. In the nineteenth century, so many aspects of medicine were purely experimental. From surgery, to pharmaceuticals, and especially psychology which was still developing at that time, a trial and error basis of treatment was prescribed. High risk methods were employed to conditions that were not well understood resulting in low success rates. As medicine advanced in to the twentieth century, more efficient and efficacious means of treatment, research, and execution in the realm of medicine were developed. The wild west mindset in terms of ethics, public health, and basic science transformed into a cultured and methodologically sound mindset. The late coming of basic science in
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On one hand, from the frame of reference of the day the disease became extant to the present, pharmaceutical advances for malaria skyrocketed in the nineteenth century. However, in the short term, progress seems to have plateaued. Large corporations such as Bayer spent much of the last century searching for a “magic bullet” cure for malaria. As Lewis Coggeshall and other researchers found, it was not so simple. Coggeshall spent many summers in southern United States collecting anopheles mosquitos for research, and the life cycle of malaria was revealed. This life cycle has many stages in and out of the body, and it is difficult to synthesize a drug that treats all stages. A vaccine was also in question, however a bout with the disease only grants six months of immunity. Thus a treatment to aid the body with the disease must be found. Unfortunately, the fever treatment research of Dr. Julius Jauregg would not be sufficient to treat the soldiers of the army in World War II so a pharmaceutical would be the best option. This would not eradicate …show more content…
One would contract the parasite enough times to become resistant enough for a new infection to be similar to the flu. Despite a swollen spleen, life would continue. Questions began to arise as to where this illness was coming from. Some believed it rose up from swamps and was present in the air. This makes sense since mosquitos breed in places with standing water. The public health movement began once mosquitos were revealed to be the carrier. Numerous stances were taken on public health methods as new ones came to light. Netting, Paris Green (kills mosquitos in water), drainage, and shelter in combination with treatment and prevention education were the main approaches to a multifaceted public health approach. The Rockefeller Foundation saw success in the South without education and drugs, as did Samuel Darling in Central America. The education aspect became important as World War II rolled around. Drugs like atabrine turned the skin yellow and it was hard to convince soldiers to take them. Combined with resistance to using malaria netting at night, soldiers were dying from the parasite. Education improved the situation substantially. As explained in the preface, modern public health sciences have benefitted from the past malaria efforts. A system to analyze the risk of infection in an area was develop to allow prioritization of efforts. Africa is where most of these efforts are concentrated.
On one hand, from the frame of reference of the day the disease became extant to the present, pharmaceutical advances for malaria skyrocketed in the nineteenth century. However, in the short term, progress seems to have plateaued. Large corporations such as Bayer spent much of the last century searching for a “magic bullet” cure for malaria. As Lewis Coggeshall and other researchers found, it was not so simple. Coggeshall spent many summers in southern United States collecting anopheles mosquitos for research, and the life cycle of malaria was revealed. This life cycle has many stages in and out of the body, and it is difficult to synthesize a drug that treats all stages. A vaccine was also in question, however a bout with the disease only grants six months of immunity. Thus a treatment to aid the body with the disease must be found. Unfortunately, the fever treatment research of Dr. Julius Jauregg would not be sufficient to treat the soldiers of the army in World War II so a pharmaceutical would be the best option. This would not eradicate …show more content…
One would contract the parasite enough times to become resistant enough for a new infection to be similar to the flu. Despite a swollen spleen, life would continue. Questions began to arise as to where this illness was coming from. Some believed it rose up from swamps and was present in the air. This makes sense since mosquitos breed in places with standing water. The public health movement began once mosquitos were revealed to be the carrier. Numerous stances were taken on public health methods as new ones came to light. Netting, Paris Green (kills mosquitos in water), drainage, and shelter in combination with treatment and prevention education were the main approaches to a multifaceted public health approach. The Rockefeller Foundation saw success in the South without education and drugs, as did Samuel Darling in Central America. The education aspect became important as World War II rolled around. Drugs like atabrine turned the skin yellow and it was hard to convince soldiers to take them. Combined with resistance to using malaria netting at night, soldiers were dying from the parasite. Education improved the situation substantially. As explained in the preface, modern public health sciences have benefitted from the past malaria efforts. A system to analyze the risk of infection in an area was develop to allow prioritization of efforts. Africa is where most of these efforts are concentrated.