Love at First Bite

We took a break from our busy schedule at the Stomp Out Malaria Boot Camp today to go to a local beach. It was amazing to put my feet in the Atlantic. We even went on a short hike to the place of the last siting of the "black madonna." I am not entirely certain what that means or who she is, but I guess the Catholics of Senegal make a pilgrimage there, now.

Aside from dazzling me with beach-side views, I must admit that this conference is reinforcing my interest in public health. Maybe public health really is what I should be studying and doing? The past few educational activities focused on the existing Peace Corps initiatives in all the countries, HIV and malaria, the potential vaccines for malaria and social marketing. So, basically some of my favorite subjects.

As a side note, we learned that if cows eat garlic their flatilation (aka farts) would be less harmful to the environment. Ok, so maybe that was just an example during the marketing section, but it certainly stuck. We also learned that the best places to get the skinny in Lousianna are with the Pastors and at hair salons. It sounds entirely unrelated out of context, but there were reasons these concepts were brought up.

On a more serious note, Saturday we heard from a representative of PATH, which is a Seattle-based organization that is working on malaria vaccines. It was a fascinating talk because I was left feeling very optimistic about the future of malaria vaccines. The one in process may be available as soon as 2015, but wouldn't likely be an end-all to the malaria. It isn't showing 100% efficacy. However, there could be a potential vaccine that would rendor the belly of a mosquito uninhabitable for the malaria parasite. (I suppose I should give background to those of you who don't know much about malaria: it is transmitted to human blood by mosquitos.) The controvercy is that the second sort of vaccine wouldn't protect a human it would subject the mosquitos to a substance (I believe a protein) that would rendor the belly of the mosquito uninhabitable to the malara parasite, thus slowly eliminating hosts for the parasite. If the both types of vaccines prove viable with a combination of traditional preventions and curative pills we could potentially eliminate one type of malaria. This was a much needed positive not after focusing on the struggles and likelihood that malaria will be around for a long time.

Perhaps the most promising correction to my knowledge of the vaccines is that so far they don't seem to be susceptable to a developed resistance. Some folks worry that a vaccine could generate a developed genetic resistance. One thing to note is that there are actually multiple types of malaria with different characteristics. The vaccines are focusing on a single type currently. They could potentially make the biggest strides toward eradicating malaria, but the other strains could fill in the gap left behind.

Another interesting piece of information is that there used to be malaria in the United States as evidenced by this disney propaganda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y68F8YwLWdg. The 7 dwarves never seemed so creepy.

Here is some info on malaria in the states: http://www.malariapolicycenter.org/index.php/resources/a_history_of_malaria_in_the_united_states