topnaman | Malaria blog » Random

Malaria, TED, lasers, and exploitation

naman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:51:33 +0000

Sonia Shah (no relation, check out her blog though) does not mince words. The author of a malaria history book, The Fever, wrote a scathing critique on the ridiculous anti-mosquito laser system and those who promote it (thanks Russell/Sanjay).

I did see the ‘mosquito death ray’ invention a few months ago when it hit the web echo chamber – and did not write about it because it obviously had no realistic implication for malaria control. Why would someone build this? I assumed it was the too-much-free time creation of some garage hobbyist or, at best, a proof of concept for some other application, maybe the defense industry. Why the creator went to TED (or why they accepted) is beyond me. I’m glad someone is calling both groups out.

Addendum: Bart Knols, at our friend MalariaWorld, actually took pains to criticize the laser a month back

Malaria blog turns two

naman — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:54:17 +0000

And I’ve made it another year… Finding the time to update the site certainly has not gotten any easier but writing is still just as fun. This is also a great excuse to look at some numbers.

Comparing some stats between last year and this one:

	2008	2009	Total
Countries	79	106	120
Unique visitors	1,518	2,831	4,349
Page views	4,798	6,811	11,609
Posts	38	34	72
Words	11,157	6,244	17,401

The top twenty countries in terms of visitors:

1	United States	11	Germany
2	India	12	Indonesia
3	United Kingdom	13	Kenya
4	Canada	14	France
5	Australia	15	Cambodia
6	Brazil	16	Nigeria
7	Switzerland	17	Sweden
8	Thailand	18	Belgium
9	Philippines	19	South Africa
10	Italy	20	Singapore

While the list generally reflects internet availability/users, I am happy to see that nearly half are malaria endemic nations.

The blog in words

naman — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:06:02 +0000

So this is what I’ve been writing about. Courtesy of Wordle.

Malaria blog turns one

naman — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:30:11 +0000

Last February, I wrote my first post on the influence of the Gates Foundation in malaria. I started the blog primarily with the intention of improving my writing skills. I also hoped the process would help me better develop, organize, and communicate my thoughts related to malaria. Sometimes writing regularly has been hard, especially in the midst of exams and travels. But it has always been fun – finishing a post (still a slow affair) is exquisitely satisfying. If you read this blog, thank you. If you leave comments, thanks double – I really want to foster more discussion. Here are some year one stats:

1,518 unique visitors
from 79 countries
45 posts, 11,157 words
Top 3 posts:

Cellscope

Eradication vs control

GSK ends lapdap

TED, Gates, mosquitoes: enough said

naman — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:04:53 +0000

Yes, it’s true – Bill Gates released a jar full of mosquitoes on the audience during his talk at the 2009 TED conference (some funny remarks in the comments here). He said, “Not only poor people should experience this.” Sure releasing mosquitoes is an unorthodox presentation tactic which gets your attention, but the idea, even as joke, seems rather inelegant – not unlike the Davos Refugee Run. Apparently, a Gates Foundation spokesperson found it necessary to clarify that the mosquitoes were not carrying malaria. I honestly wonder what species the mosquitoes were (only the Anopheles species carry malaria), where Gates got them (it is fairly cold right now), and if the mosquitoes actually bit anyone (only female mosquitoes take blood meals and maybe he released all males)?

Words of malaria wisdom

naman — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:20:54 +0000

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 but it was Plasmodium vivax which was destroying communities by incapacitating millions of workers. Now, 50 percent of reported malaria cases are P.falciparum and several outbreaks of fatal P.vivax were reported last year. How times have changed…

Listerine mouthwash and mosquitos

naman — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:26:42 +0000

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.