Wifey sent me a text, warning me of a Malaria alert in the area and to stay inside. I sent a text back saying, "Really??"
I sent a text to Paul, a co-teacher at the high school next to mine and his response was, "Really?"
I had forgotten about this:
Malaria Alert September 2010
Malaria cases had gone up by 33 percent from 2009 in 2010.
The reason is that North Korea is close, but I don't know any definative reason for why it is going up. I think its a safe assumption to believe North Korea's medical system is failing utterly to keep Malaria infections down and there for the disease is spreading.
Malaria is believed by historians to have killed half the people in the world who have ever lived. It is the deadliest disease in the world by this fact. It's not something I want a part of. There is no vaccine and once you get it you have it for life. Complications from Malaria will shorten your life when you get to an age in which a fever is a problem.
However, I will stay inside for tonight. But I refuse to live in isolation for months on end.
The story about Malaria's treatment is interesting. Artemisia Annua, a plant I've seen growing about, by very rarely is a popular relief of malaria. It's been used by Chinese Herbalists for 1000s of years but only 40 years ago did it gain the respect of scientists. Initially it was thought the compounds in it were too unstable.
It is used in conjunction with other drugs or herbal extracts. Garlic and arginine are helpful in combination with Artemisin.
Sources:
http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7475/1156.extract
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisin
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/12/30/herbal-treatment-that-really-works-for-malaria.aspx
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