Three years ago I had the privilege of visiting Kenya, fulfilling a childhood dream. I got to visit National Parks and meet people of the Maasai tribe. In particular I made friends with a few Maasai warriors, who, oddly enough, added me on Facebook (yes, they have Internet out in the savanna schools and lodges). As I have kept in touch with my Maasai friends over the years, I am astounded by the number of times they have contracted malaria, and how the parasite's symptoms have stayed with them long after our own medical system would have eliminated them."Roman fever" was the name ancient Romans gave to malaria, which often plagued the large populations of their larger areas, and trickled into the less populous outskirts. Malaria was and still is a big killer. Some even attribute malaria to contributing to the Fall of Rome. But Romans tried their best to counter the effects and eliminate the environments where malaria could so easily spread. Festivals were moved away from hotter, more humid summer dates, and swamps were drained to prevent mosquito breeding grounds. Where the Romans saw a problem, they began to act and develop solutions.
I, too, see a great problem in the continued rampage of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, and I desperately want to play my part in developing combative and preventative strategies for reducing the prevalence of malaria in this region. I currently am studying Immunology, the study of the immune system, and wish to enter the vaccine development force as a researching professor in due time. I no longer want to see the people of Kenya and other regions suffer, and I most definitely don't want to watch their fall, as Rome's. My hope is we can learn from history and improve upon the ideas they had then, to prevent the past from repeating itself.
It's interesting to see how disease can affect a society. While many factors are more easily controlled, physical ailment can paralyze a society and there is often little we can do about it at the time. I guess this is why it's important to prepare.
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ReplyDeleteAlly, what a noble purpose! I wish you the best of luck in your efforts!
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated that despite the absence of microscopes, the Ancient Romans still recognized that hot and humid conditions (where mosquitos thrive) could lead to sickness (what we know today as malaria, west nile virus, or yellow fever). I wonder what they treated the infected with, or how they handled the infection.