Now that the hot season has begun, few Sonsoro residents sleep under mosquito nets. Many people believe that they are hotter under mosquito nets and want to avoid any further discomfort. Others never bothered to move their mosquito nets when they started sleeping outside. Others yet do not see the need because they have observed that there are fewer mosquitoes. More than half of my health center colleagues have even stopped using their mosquito nets.
Unfortunately, malaria does not stop for the hot season, even though there are fewer cases than during the rains. We still treat people for malaria regularly at the health center. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, because many people can contract malaria and not show any symptoms. They may never feel sick at all, but a mosquito who bites them can still spread the disease to others.
This week, we discovered just how ignorant we were about the malaria rate in Sonsoro. A researcher from Cotonou tested 200 schoolchildren, ages 2-9, for malaria. The children were randomly selected and not known to be sick. Of the 200 children, 82 tested positive for malaria! Interestingly, when he did the same test in Kandi, fewer than 15 of the 200 children tested positive.
What explains the difference? The researcher found that nearly all mosquitoes in Sonsoro are anophele, while few are anophele in Kandi. Anophele mosquitoes (specifically female) are the only type of mosquito that can transmit malaria. So while mosquito bites are relatively rare in Sonsoro during the dry season, if you are bitten, your chances of contracting malaria are excellent.
Though a 41% current infection rate sounds high, the worst is yet to come. Periodically, the researcher traps mosquitoes at night to analyze later. He found that during the dry season in Sonsoro, typically only 2-3 mosquitoes will try to bite a person at night. However, during the rainy season, the number is generally around 50! If 41% of schoolchildren in Sonsoro have malaria while mosquitoes are rare, I can only imagine what the rate will be when the mosquitoes are twenty times more numerous during the rainy season.
Unfortunately, malaria does not stop for the hot season, even though there are fewer cases than during the rains. We still treat people for malaria regularly at the health center. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, because many people can contract malaria and not show any symptoms. They may never feel sick at all, but a mosquito who bites them can still spread the disease to others.
This week, we discovered just how ignorant we were about the malaria rate in Sonsoro. A researcher from Cotonou tested 200 schoolchildren, ages 2-9, for malaria. The children were randomly selected and not known to be sick. Of the 200 children, 82 tested positive for malaria! Interestingly, when he did the same test in Kandi, fewer than 15 of the 200 children tested positive.
What explains the difference? The researcher found that nearly all mosquitoes in Sonsoro are anophele, while few are anophele in Kandi. Anophele mosquitoes (specifically female) are the only type of mosquito that can transmit malaria. So while mosquito bites are relatively rare in Sonsoro during the dry season, if you are bitten, your chances of contracting malaria are excellent.
Though a 41% current infection rate sounds high, the worst is yet to come. Periodically, the researcher traps mosquitoes at night to analyze later. He found that during the dry season in Sonsoro, typically only 2-3 mosquitoes will try to bite a person at night. However, during the rainy season, the number is generally around 50! If 41% of schoolchildren in Sonsoro have malaria while mosquitoes are rare, I can only imagine what the rate will be when the mosquitoes are twenty times more numerous during the rainy season.
That is astounding!! You can't be cautious enough. Is there any ability for wide spread spraying? One thing that seems to be known is that fragrances attract mosquitoes, so it's possible that women are more likely to be bitten. Might that be possible in Benin?
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
I don't know of any outdoor spraying in Benin. There are some regions of Benin where there is periodic indoor spraying.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how much village women use fragrances. Given the high rate of malaria infection among children, who presumably don't use fragrances, if there's an additional risk element for women, we're in trouble!
Malaria was eradicated in the US in 1951, and Bill Gates wants to see it eradicated worldwide by the end of his lifetime. If we have a 41% infection rate, there is an awful lot of work to do before that is possible!