Mosquitoes and malaria / by Jacobus C. Faure.

  • Faure, Jacobus C.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mosquitoes and malaria / by Jacobus C. Faure. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    houses. Anopheles prefers earth pools. It breeds abundantly along the grassy banks of slow streams, ponds, and lakes, in rain water puddles in fields, and along roads, in marshes, in furrows or ditches with weeds in them, in tanks or cisterns used for watering gardens, and in ornamental ponds. Obviously Anopheles will be more abundant in marshy regions, especially where there is sufficient rainfall! to maintain the innumerable pools and puddles in the marshes. It is for this reason that malaria is associated with marshy places, and that it has in the past been considered as being caused by the ““miasms’’ or vapours arising from the marshes in the evening or early morning. Nevertheless, Anopheles breeds in comparatively dry regions as well, and the mere fact that marshes do not occur in a particular area does not mean that Anopheles will not breed there. The only safe plan is to carry on a campaign against all mosquitoes. Whenever mosquitoes occur an effort should be made to locate their breeding places A careful search will probably reveal the source of the mosquito supply soon enough. Tue PREVENTION OF MALARIA. The discussion of the prevention of malaria may be conveniently considered under the following headings: (a) How to avoid mosquitoes, (6) how to destroy mosquitoes, (c) methods to avoid human sources of. malaria, (d) treatment of patients. Paying attention to the mosquitoes is, of course, the most logical procedure in any attempt made to reduce malaria, because it strikes. at the root of the trouble by removing the agents by which the. disease is transmitted. How to avoid Mosquitoes.—The most obvious thing to do first is to try and avoid the Anopheles mosquito. This can be done in several ways, and one of them is by Choice of Suitable Locality.—Always try and build at least a mile away from swamps, rivers, or streams that are hable to furnish breeding places for Anopheles. In this way a great deal of incon- venience and sickness could be avoided in malarious districts, such as parts of the northern Transvaal, of Zululand, the coastal part of Natal contiguous to Zululand, and the Orange River Valley in the north-western Cape Province. Mosquito Nets.—The use of mosquito nets and mosquito-proof houses is of great value. It has repeatedly been demonstrated that people can live in exceedingly malarious districts with complete safety by sleeping in houses that are mosquito-proof, and by protecting the face with a veil and the hands with gloves when out of the house after dusk. In the use of mosquito nets the utmost care should always be used to have the net sufficiently fine to prevent the mosquitoes from getting through. In the Transvaal Agricultural Journal for October, 1907, Dr. F. Arnold described the best nets to use. The accompanying figure illustrates the largest size netting that can be used with safety. It goes without saying that the net should always be kept in good repair. If there is one hole the size of a pea in a net it is of no use whatsoever.- The net should never be allowed to hang down to the floor, since the under-side of the bed has been found to be a favourite hiding place for mosquitoes. Tuck the net in under the mattress very carefully on all sides. The tighter the net is stretched the better the ventilation will be. Of
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