MALARIA

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 102, 4 May 1929, Page 8

MALARIA

SYDNEY'S DANGER

MOSQUITO MENACE

(From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, 24th April. According to a Sydney medical man, there is grave danger of a serious outbreak of malaria in the city, because, lie says, the true malarial mosquito has been found here. Sydney has suffered from the mosquito pest for years past, though it must be admitted that considerable progress has been made in the difficult process of eradication. Some districts within the metropolitan area claim to be almost free of the mosquito, but they say that their efforts are nullified on account of the inactivity of surrounding municipalities. The futility of independent action has been recognised, and the Government is now making some effort to co-ordinate the plans for eradication, and most of the local bodies have fallen in with an idea which provides for the creation of a central authority which, next year, will work systematically. Should there bo an outbreak of malaria in Sydney the position would bo serious. A species of mosquito called the "anopheles bancrofti" which is widely distributed in Northern Australia, "may be" a malaria carrier, but the "anopheles annulipes," found in many parts of Australia, and extending to Papua, is most certainly a carrier of the parasites of malaria. The typo of mosquito which worries the people of Sydney is not responsible for the spread of the disease in any circumstances, and it has come as rather a shock to the people to know that the "right" (or wrong) type has been found within the metropolitan area. If the discovery will hasten the elimination of the mosquito of all types, then it will have served its purpose. Malaria is not "catching" in the ordinary sense. Tor centuries it was believed to be caused by the night air, or by vapours arising from the swamps. An hour before dark was tho dreaded time. In 1879, after years of patient research, Sir Konald Hoss, a great expert on tropical medicine found that tho rcnl evildoer was a microscopical animal living in the salivary glands of the mosquito "annulipes." Only the female mosquito sucks blood, so only the female is dangerous; but that is small comfort for the malarial victim.

Malaria, as well as dengue and tilarial diseases, are not uncommon in Queensland, where mosquitoes responsible for these troubles have been fought persistently, and to some extent successfully. Brisbano and Toowoomba have conducted a campaign against the mosquito for years, and they are now comparitivcly free from the pests. Prevention is ever to be preferred to cure, and the lessons learned during the construction of the Panama Canal havo been of great value. Eradication of tho pest is difficult unless there is co-operation. Then it becomes simple, so simple that it is difficult to understand the attitude of some of the Sydney metropolitan councils, who object to the payment of one-tenth of one per cent, of their revenue into a common fund to be used for fho good of all. It will be a sorry day for Sydney if the malarial mosquito is permitted to multiply.