Monday 10 March 2014

AM I IMMUNE TO MALARIA?

I have lived in Papua New Guinea for 20 years. During that time, I have been bitten by thousands of mosquitoes, many of which were Anopheles with black striped football socks.
 
I have not taken malaria tablets in 20 years. I have suffered two bouts of cerebral malaria from Plasmodium falciparum and spent time in hospital on one such bout.
 
But that is all. I have been spared from malaria in the rest of that 20 years. I do hear that many PNG people are immune to malaria. It seems to be true.

Having spoken to many PNG friends, I find that all never take malaria medication. That is the practice of the silly expatriates who never want to catch malaria. PNG people only take medicine on the onset of fever,

They all say they have not taken medication in up to a decade. But they have suffered fever only once in that time or perhaps never.
 

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