MALARIA
Commonly, in tropical and sub-tropical countries, the malaria virus is a fatal disease that can be acquired in a mosquito bite. Female anopheles’ mosquitoes are the known carrier of such a virus. However, not all mosquitoes of this kind transmit it; it is known that at 20 and above temperatures, the virus completes its cycle on this kind of mosquito, therefore, people living in colder areas and high altitude places are less prone to this virus. Therefore, virus transmission is most likely to occur in warmer regions and happens all year-round. If this kind of mosquito is the known carrier, then, where does it really originate? In 1880, Alphonse Laveran noted the parasite, Oscillaria malaria, on a patient’s blood. Contrary to the belief of Laveran that there was only one kind of such parasite;
several kinds of human malaria parasites were discovered then. In 1890, the name Plasmodium vivax and malaria were coined by Giovanni Batista Grassi and Raimondo Filetti. Succeeded by the discovery of P. falciparum by William H. Welch (1897), P. ovale by John William Watson Stephens (1922) and P. Knowles by Robert Knowles and Biraj Mohan Das Gupta (1931). Out of these five species, falciparum and vivax were known to pose the greatest threat to humans. Therefore, mosquitoes are only the medium of transfer of this parasite into humans.
Mosquitoes become infected and with the right temperature, saprogenic cycle, the time interval during which the parasite develops in the mosquito, happens
Once a human is infected, the parasites develop maturity in the liver
then travel into the bloodstream where they attack the red blood cells. The
body will then show symptoms such as high fever, nausea, headache, vomiting,
anaemia, bloody stool, muscle pain, convulsions and diarrhoea.
Malaria treatment depends on the severity, the species of the parasite
and the place where it was possibly acquired. Common drugs used for treatment
are quinine, quinidine and chloroquine. On the other hand, patients who cannot
take medications orally will be treated with continuous intravenous (IV fluid)
infusion. There is no known available vaccine that can provide life-long
protection from acquiring this infection. However, according to WHO (World
Health Organization), there is an injectable vaccine, the RTS, S/AS01 (RTS, S)
also known as
In a nutshell, malaria is a fatal disease that is common in countries near the equator where mosquitoes and parasites can develop. Medical prevention, such as vaccines, is yet to be discovered and deployed in these countries. Hence, the most effective way to avert getting infected is to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes. Mosquito nets, insecticides and mosquito coils are known to be the most efficient way.
One major cause of environmental degradation in Ghana is gold mining. In
the name of natural resource development, the land is given to mining companies
owned by foreigners. These foreigners milk the country dry and destroy the
heritage of the people.
From the vast concessions granted them by the government, they extract the
gold, destroy the rivers and other water bodies in the communities before going
home, leaving the land worthless. Yet, their operations are legal.
Approved mining is, however, not the sole gold mining activity. There is also what is regarded as unauthorized mining, called galamsey. In this enterprise, adventurous Ghanaians set out to do private mining as a livelihood. They dig up the earth with tools that are not as sophisticated as those of foreigners who also dig for the precious metal.
Mining activities destroy
the environment. So far, it appears that nothing can be done to reclaim the
land degraded by miners; the damage is irreversible. Vast tracts of arable land
have become desolate mounds because of gold-digging. Nothing can grow where
galamsey has taken place.
Besides, the main water sources of communities have been polluted by the
activities of both legal and illegal miners. The gold extracted from dirt
requires cleaning with chemicals and rinsing in water. By the time the gold
searchers succeed in producing a glittering handful, large stretches of rivers,
ponds of water and some lakes have been poisoned.
Pollution leaves little drinking water for man and beast. Fishes die and humans
contract various diseases.
(a) Name the types of mining activities
discussed in the passage.
(b) (i) Which groups of people engage in
mining?
(ii) Why does the government give licences to miners?
(c) How are the people and the land affected
by the mining activities?
(d) (i) How does the writer feel about mining?
(ii) Why does the writer think that nothing can be done about the effects of
mining?
(e) Explain the following expressions in your
own words:
(i) milk the country dry;
(ii) leaving the land worthless.
(f) For each of the following words, give
another word or phrase, that means the same, and can fit into the passage: