Meningitis, Yellow Fever, Malaria! Oh My!

Dukoral.......................$80.00

Havrix........................$60.00

Typhim Vi.....................$45.00

Menactra ACYW 135.............$140.00

YF-VAX........................$130.00
Lariam and Malarone...........$163.00

Not having Traveller's Diarrhea, Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Meningitis, Yellow Fever or Malaria......Pretty Freaking Expensive!

I recently visited a travel doctor, to learn about all the nasty things that I might catch when I travel to Tanzania, and let me tell you my friends, the list is a llllooooonnnngggg one.  It seems that a lot of my worries spawn from the little creatures in the picture below.  Any guesses as to what they are? 

If you guessed Plasmodium falciparum (malaria), Anopheles gambiae(mosquito) and Yellow fever virus (duh), and Aedes aegypti(mosquito) then you're correct!  

Now anyone who is reading this blog probably knows that my major in University was microbiology, so I'm going to let my inner nerd show a little bit and delve into how nasty these little bugs are.

Malaria

Malaria is a really awful disease, which affected between 190-311 million people and killed between 708,000 - 1,003,000 in 2008 alone.  Most of the victims who died were children in sub-Saharan Africa.  Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite called Plasmodium falciparum and is transmitted by mosquitoes Anopheles gambiae.  Symptoms include high fevers, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms and anemia.

Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is an equally awful disease, and is estimated to infect 200,000 new people every year and is responsible for killing approximately 30, 000 people a year with 90% of these infections occurring in Africa.  Yellow fever is caused by a virus creatively named 'Yellow fever virus' and is transmitted by mosquitoes Aedes aegypti.  Symptoms include bleeding, delirium, fever, headache, jaundice, seizures and vomiting.

After writing about these two deadly diseases, I realize that I'm probably freaking some people out (most likely my parents).  Both Jessie and I will be vaccinated for Yellow Fever and will be taking anti-malarial pills during our stay in Tanzania.  

Just think of the people who live in sub-Saharan Africa ( over 800 million people), and the number of them who cannot afford vaccinations and treatment.  

sub-Saharan Africa in green

Kind of sad right? 

One of my goals for this blog is to open up my readers' eyes to the issues that affect Africa.  I think that while we've all been bombarded with information over the years (ie those commercials showing malnourished children needing a sponsor), we've also become desensitized and unattached. 

Before this posting gets too preachy and depressing, I'll finish by saying, that while the issues might seem overwhelming, exhausting and never ending, if you find an issue that you are passionate about pursue it.  Can you imagine what that world would be like?