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Dear readers and fellow-Apes

I thank you for taking the trouble and the time to read My Not-So-Humble Postings.

I welcome comments and/or criticisms.

Thank you.

925: Mosquitoes and Malaria XV – Worldwide in Brief: Italy / France / Germany / the UK / the USA / Australia
30 October, 2009

Gleaned from: IRIN-News and research sites…quoted as and when…

Reports in green (checked and edited) / highlights in red / extra highlights and comments in brown / dangerous in orange / highly dangerous in pink / good and true in blue / and my comments in black. Kindly note that whenever Orange and Pink indicate Horse-shit and Horse-fart respectively, you will be told…

Italy: The WHO declared Italy free from malaria (Horse-shit) in 1970. Since then, almost all reported cases have been imported, but their number has risen steadily over the last decades. In 1997, a case of introduced malaria occurred in a rural area of Grosseto Province, the first since the eradication of malaria from Italy (Horse-shit again). This event, along with the occasional presence of Plasmodium carriers who contracted the disease in malaria-endemic areas and the ever-increasing number of immigrants from malaria-endemic countries entering Italy raises concern about the possible reappearance of malaria in certain areas – All over Italy, if you ask me! The question that needs to be asked is: Are there mosquitoes in Italy? The answer is: YES! And the conclusion is: If there are mosquitoes in Italy, then there are females among them, and therefore there is malaria and all its affiliates and products…

Guardian.com.uk via Google January 2007

Sandwiched between temperate Europe and tropical Africa, Italy is on the front line of climate change and has seen a rise in tropical diseases such as malaria and encephalitis.

The Italian environmental organisation, Legambiente, reported that Italy had been declared free of malaria by the WHO in 1970 – which means shit! The WHO is no different from all the other con-dupe-scam-syndicates. It checks where it wants and examines whom it wants and declares what is suitable for it to continue to survive and thrive – but it has made a come-back. Tick-and-mosquito-borne encephalitis, a virus which attacks the nerve system, is also on the way back. While only 18 cases had been reported before 1993, 100 were reported since, mostly around Venice – Reported does not mean exact. The figures could be 10 or 100 or even 1,000 times more. Read 822: Sham-scam-con-dupe-syndicates: Child-Sponsorship, Charitable, and Aid Organisations, – out to milk the morons, fleece the fools, and relieve the naïve of the world of their money…

The director-general of Legambiente said that diseases arrived from Africa – and stayed and spread – while tropical animals and plants attack Italy’s bio-diversity. Droughts and floods are on the rise, and semi-desert areas have appeared. A third ailment, visceral leishmaniasis, carried by sand-flies and potentially fatal, has expanded rapidly. Cases in Italy have risen from 50 before 2000 to 150 a year – with the southern region of Campania a hotspot.

Of 6 sustained droughts in Italy in the last 60 years, 4 occurred from 1990 to 2007. The average temperature has increased by 0.4C in the north in 20 years and by 0.7C in the south. Ten million hectares are at risk of desertification. 20% of the fish now swimming in the Mediterranean, including barracuda, are types that have migrated from the Red Sea as water temperatures rise.

Italy's combination of sea coast, mountains, deep valleys and plains, gives rise to a rich variety of food-products, but climate change could tip the balance. Italy is at the southern edge of the globe's temperate area and that is why it has been particularly hit by the collapse of the climatic equilibrium.

France: Epidemiological data from the French National Reference Center for Imported Diseases showed that the estimated number of cases of imported malaria Horse-shit in France increased from 5,940 in 1998 to 7,127 in 1999 and 8,056 in 2000 – To them all cases are imported cases since no authority would admit to locally transmitted malaria. And what does imported really mean? Doesn’t it mean the disease is now in the country? That 3-year progression ended in 2001 when the number of estimated cases fell back to 7,223. It was due mainly to the concomitant increase in the number of people travelling to endemic zones, especially in Africa. The countries in which contamination occurred were located in tropical Africa 95%, Asia 2.2%, and Latin America 2.7%. During the 3-year period from 1998 to 2000, there were a total of 13 autochthonous cases of malaria involving patients with no history of travel to tropical areas……7,223 in 2001 are still 1,283 cases more than in 1998 and these are only the reported cases or known figures.

Autochthonous: original flora, fauna, or inhabitants of the region in which it is found.

The distribution of Plasmodium species involved in imported malaria in France was stable with 83% involving Plasmodium falciparum – the worst and most dangerous strain – 6% involving Plasmodium vivax, 6.5% involving Plasmodium ovale, and 1.3% involving Plasmodium malariae. Attacks were clinically uncomplicated in 90 to 95% of cases and severe in 2 to 5% including fatal Plasmodium falciparum malaria in 0.37 to 0.49% of cases.

Medscape-today via Google June 2007

Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a serious health hazard for travelers to malaria-endemic areas and is often diagnosed on return to the country of residence. A retrospective study was conducted of imported falciparum malaria among travelers returning to France from malaria-endemic areas from 1996 through 2003. Epidemiologic, clinical, and parasitologic data were collected by a network of 120 laboratories and factors associated with fatal falciparum malaria were identified by logistic regression analysis. During the study period, 21,888 falciparum malaria cases were reported. There were 96 deaths for a fatality-rate of 4.4 per 1,000 cases of falciparum malaria. In multivariate analysis, risk factors independently associated with death from imported malaria were older age, European origin, travel to East Africa, and absence of chemoprophylaxis. Fatal imported malaria remains rare and preventable. Pre-travel advice and malaria management and precautions should take these risk factors into account, particularly for senior travelers.

Imported malaria is increasingly reported in Europe and North America, with an estimated 30,000 cases yearly. In 2000, the countries with the highest rates of imported Horse-shit malaria were France: 8,000 cases, the UK: 2,069 cases, the USA: 1,402 cases, Italy: 986 cases, and Germany: 732 cases – All these figures are only estimates. The actual figures could be anything from ten times to a thousand times and even more. Imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a serious health hazard for travelers to malaria-endemic areas, owing to the potentially severe illness and high fatality rates per 1,000: France 4; Italy 6.5; the UK 8.5; the USA 13; Germany 30.4. Risk factors associated with fatal imported malaria are poorly known. Limited series have suggested that the fatality rate is significantly lower for migrants from malaria-endemic areas than for patients from areas not endemic for the disease. Antimalarial chemoprophylaxis, even incomplete or inappropriate, may also confer a degree of protection. Better knowledge of the characteristics and risk factors for fatal imported malaria might help to improve prevention and patient management. The main features of fatal imported falciparum malaria observed in France were retrospectively analyzed during 1996–2003 and compared with those for nonfatal cases.

Australia was declared malaria-free Horse-shit in 1983. However, there has been an increase in plasmodium falciparum cases since 1990. Comparison between the 6-year periods 1990-1995 and 1996-2001 showed that plasmodium falciparum had increased by 14% to 44% while plasmodium vivax decreased by 77% to 50% and one patient died – Decreased!? And only one patient died! By God and Satan! Impossible! But even if true, that was in 2001, and 8 years is a very long time! Malaria remains an important and serious parasitic disease in Australia. Significant numbers of Australian travelers take inadequate chemo-prophylaxis while visitors, mostly immigrants in detention and armed-force personnel, are additional sources of imported malaria.

I could go on and on to quote more and more countries ad infinitum. However, here are some names, or hints, on what the anopheles mosquito, or the female of the species, has come up with: Quartan malaria; Falciparum malaria; Biduoterian fever; Black-water fever; Tertian malaria…and it only takes one bite!

Posted by akill 17:43 | General | Comment(0) | Permalink

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