Malaria Story

My head is so heavy, my neck hurts, I feel electrical sparks in my brain and my whole body is so tired that even climbing a few steps is beyond my capacity... Welcome to malaria world! The disease is endemic in Congo, so I am not really surprised to have caught it. I tried to be careful – i.e. sleep with a net, use insect repellant, avoid short sleeves and shorts at night – but in the end I guess I was just not lucky. Mind you, malaria is very common here, Congolese regularly get it, just like the flu. But since they are exposed to the parasite since their birth, they develop a natural immunity... Hence, the disease is generally trivialised; but it does not mean that it does not kill. Most people here will tell you they know someone who died of malaria. But few apply preventive measures, that is just the way it is, in a culture which is predominantly fatalistic and where people have very limited means to protect their houses/shelters against insects.

Foreigners who come to Congo generally take preventive treatments, but these are not 100% effective and their side effects can be rebarbative. Doctors have different approaches. Some do not recommend preventive treatments for long stays, others recommend it anyway. In the end, to each his own decision! The bad news is that the parasite prevailing in Congo, Falciparum, is the most dangerous, the one responsible for the deadly cerebral malaria, if not treated. The good news is that if treated, the parasite should not trigger further episodes contrarily to other existing malaria types...