topnaman | Malaria blog

A malaria control officer from India recently told me (in Hindi):
Falciparum kills people, vivax kills the nation
It’s an old anecdote which mirrored the classic malaria scenario in the country. In 1970, Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite species associated with higher mortality, comprised only 14 percent of all cases. Still, the parasite was responsible for many deaths [...]

The military and malaria have a long history together. Regarded as a scourge of soldiers in tropical areas, the disease is said to have been responsible for more casualties than bullets. In fact, military research produced many of our modern antimalarials including resochin (chloroquine) by the Germans prior to World War 2 and mefloquine which [...]

The NY Times reports on the mosquito repelling activity of eucalyptol, a natural oil found in eucalyptus trees. Don’t get your hopes up - the concentration is too low to be effective. Commercial preparations for actual use are now available and they sure beat the smell of DEET.