Malaria: People Living in Tropical Regions, Essay Example

There are many diseases that cause human suffering, but none are more deadly to people living in tropical regions than malaria (1). Over the past several decades, there have been many humanitarian efforts to eradicate the disease and to develop the treatments that afflicted people are able to receive (2). It is important to understand the severity of the illness in addition to the similarities and differences in its symptoms in order to promote disease awareness. In order to gain a better understanding of this disease, malaria will be defined, and its symptoms, headache and vomiting, will be compared and contrasted in order to help the public gain a greater understanding of different treatment needs.

Malaria is a parasite infection caused by a mosquito bite that leads to fever and chills.(1) After a person is infected with the malaria parasite, it is able to travel to the lungs, heart, kidneys, and brain, which causes problems with these organs.(2) There are many mosquitoes in many parts of the world where it is warm, malaria is primarily a problem for people living in these areas. Some examples of locations in which malaria is common include Brazil and African countries .(1) Doctors recommend that people who live in or visit areas with lots of mosquitos wear bug spray and protective clothing to prevent the bugs from touching their skin.(3) There are different symptoms of Malaria , such as a high temperature, chills , vomiting, and muscle pain.(1)  Therefore, it is clear that malaria can easily  be  prevented by mosquitos repellent  and treated by taking medicine for the fever and chills it causes.(4)

Two malaria symptoms include headache and vomiting which have several similarities. (5) People with the disease tend to vomit because their body is trying to get rid of the parasite infection. (6) However, when this occurs, the body becomes quickly dehydrated because vomiting requires a loss of water. Headaches are therefore a common consequence. (5) These two symptoms are similar because they occur as a consequence of the infection. (7) They result from the body trying to fight off the infection, and are signs that can be used by doctors to diagnose patients with malaria. (7) Vomiting and headaches occur as a result of the hard work that the body is putting forth in order to cure itself. Thus, doctors look for both severe vomiting and severe headaches to rule out other kinds of infections so that their patients can be formally diagnosed with this disease. (8)

Headache and vomiting are two major symptoms that are affiliated with malaria. Despite resulting from the same disorder, these symptoms have many differences. The first difference is that they have different physical effects on the patient. There are two separate categories of headaches. (9) Headaches are ultimately caused by dehydration. (10) In contrast, vomiting occurs to prevent dehydration, although more dehydration can make the vomiting worse. (11) Second, while both headache and vomiting are closely related symptoms of malaria, they occur for opposite reasons. Headache occurs because of dehydration and vomiting occurs to resolve this dehydration. (11) Third, they require distinct treatments. When vomiting is unresolved over prolonged periods of time, death can occur. Headaches are primarily treated by providing the patients with fluids, while vomiting will only cease if high levels of the parasite that causes the disease are removed. (12) Therefore, although both symptoms are related to dehydration, providing the patient with water can only help treat headaches. Ultimately, headache and vomiting are different in many ways such as their physical effects, contrasting relationship with regards to dehydration, and treatments.

In conclusion, malaria is caused by a parasite and is therefore difficult to treat. The headache and vomiting symptoms have many similarities and differences. They are related because people with the infection vomit to get rid of the parasite. When this happens, they become dehydrated, which causes headaches. These two symptoms are different because they require different treatments. Headaches are treated by providing patients with some of the water that they have lost. It is important to teach people to recognize these symptoms because it could help them catch a malaria infection early on, which would prevent many of its complications. In this manner, malaria can eventually be removed from existence.