Malaria is a life threatening disease that is spread through a bite by an Anopheles mosquito. An infected mosquito carries the Plasmodium parasite which they transfer to the human bloodstream after the bite ("Fact sheet about Malaria", 2018) . Once inside the body, these parasites settle in the liver until maturity, after which they infest the bloodstream and affect the red blood cells. Multiplication of the parasite causes a burst in the cells after 42 to 72 hours resulting in illness symptoms that occur in circles in two or three days. Malaria thrives in tropical and subtropical climates where the parasites can survive. The disease is said to have originated from Africa earlier before the 1700BC (Velarde-Rodríguez et al., 2015) . Ancient pyramid builders in Egypt were given garlic to prevent the symptoms from spreading.
According to the recent reports by the World Health Organization, 219 million people were affected by malaria in 2017. This includes the infants, children under five years and pregnant mothers. The report further reveals 93% Malaria deaths in Africa and sub-Sahara regions. Malaria remains a huge preventable public health burden especially in Nigeria (Fleming&, Storey, Molineaux, 1979). The highly populated country is responsible for 25% of the global health burden with other regions such as Congo, Mozambique, India and Uganda experiencing 11%, 5%, 4% and 4% respectively. The researcher would like to handle this public health issue due to his interest in finding a preventative method to save the lives of those living in the high risk areas. The Nigerian population is more vulnerable hence there is need for awareness and preventive methods.
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In high transmission areas such as Nigeria, Malaria affects children under five years causing more than 70% of infant deaths (Farid, 2016) . WHO recommends that the high risk areas be more thorough with the malaria vector control measures. There are two prominent vector control measures being used in Nigeria, they include insecticide treated mosquito nets and constant indoor residual spraying ("Fact sheet about Malaria", 2018) . There are also other means of prevention such as the anti-malarial drugs that suppresses the blood stage of malaria infections. Entomological surveillance is being used to monitor and control the spread of malaria. There is an ongoing monitoring on the effectiveness of the vector-control measures and their durability. Data is being collected to help in the decision making process ("Entomological surveillance, and intervention monitoring and evaluation", 2019) . This data will be useful in implementing and forecasting on the future preventive strategies to reduce the deaths caused by Malaria. In 2018, WHO released a surveillance guide that offers guidelines on the procedures that each country should follow to strengthen the surveillance systems and use their data to make better decisions.
Malaria can be treated if the disease is identified in the early stages. According to WHO, deaths can be prevented with early treatments and diagnosis. This does not only make the disease less prevalence but also reduces the transmission to other people in the population. Currently, the best alternative for treatment of P. falciparum malaria is the therapy based on Artemisin also known as ACT ("Fact sheet about Malaria", 2018) . Policy makers in collaboration with World Health Organization, the government and other well wishers have ensured that the vendor-control measures put in place are achieving the required results. The aforementioned preventive methods are dependent on the immunity of the population and the stage of the infection.
In conclusion, Malaria prevalence is on a higher rate in Nigeria despite the efforts being put in place to reduce the risks of infections. Research shows that the longer mosquito lifespan and the availability of people to bite due to the high population in Nigerian have led to the prevalence of the disease. However, the measures put in place are showing signs of success as illustrated by the decline in malarial deaths from 44,000 in 2010 to 285,000 in 2016.
References
Entomological surveillance, and intervention monitoring and evaluation. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/malaria/areas/vector_control/entomological_surveillance/en/
Fact sheet about Malaria. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria
Farid, B. (2016). Challenges in the Management of Malaria in Nigeria: A Healthcare System Preview. Epidemiology: Open Access , 6 (3). doi: 10.4172/2161-1165.1000253
Fleming, A. F., Storey, J., Molineaux, L., Iroko, E. A., & Attai, E. D. E. (1979). Abnormal haemoglobins in the Sudan savanna of Nigeria: I. Prevalence of haemoglobins and relationships between sickle cell trait, malaria and survival. Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology , 73 (2), 161-172.
Runsewe-Abiodun, I. T., Ogunfowora, O. B., & Fetuga, B. M. (2006). Neonatal malaria in Nigeria-a 2 year review. BMC pediatrics , 6 (1), 19.
Salako, L. A., Ajayi, F. O., Sowunmi, A., & Walker, O. (1990). Malaria in Nigeria: a revisit. Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology , 84 (5), 435-445.
Velarde-Rodríguez, M., Van den Bergh, R., Fergus, C., Casellas, A., Sanz, S., & Cibulskis, R. et al. (2015). Origin of malaria cases: a 7-year audit of global trends in indigenous and imported cases in relation to malaria elimination. Global Health Action , 8 (1), 29133. doi: 10.3402/gha.v8.29133
