FIGHTING THE MOSQUITO

Evening Star, Issue 19710, 10 November 1927, Page 3

FIGHTING THE MOSQUITO

MALARIA IN EUROPE PROBLEMS STILL TO BE SOLVED LEAGUE OF NATIONS REPORT. It is 30 years since the malaria parasite was first found in a mosquito, and all doubt was resolved as to tbo means by which infection spreads from man to man. Tbo lesson of this great discovery was that destruction ot all mosquitoes in any district will abolish uialaria among the inhabitants, and it has been so well applied that lives have been saved by the million, lingo tracts of land have been made habitable, and important engineering schemes in the tropics have been realised. Those results strike the imagination. We read of swamps that arc drained, of lakes that are covered with a film of paraffin, of aeroplanes that scatter Paris green over miles of water in order to prevent the young mosquito from finishing its life history. And wo aro apt to think either that the problem of malaria is solved or that its only solution lies in the wholesale destruction of the anophelino mosquito. A report just issued by the Malaria Commission of tho League of Nations shows how erroneous these ideas are (writes the medical correspondent of the ‘ Observer ’). ITALY AND THE BALKANS.

It is well known that malaria is still the scourge of many European countries—e.g., Italy, Russia, and the Balkans—besides Asia Minor and many parts of the tropics. But it is seldom understood that in most of these areas —oven regardless of expense—there can bo no question of eradicating the mosquito. During all the journeys of tiie Commission m Europe and Palestine only two regions were found in which antilarval measures had been carried out on a considerable scale with definitely successful results, and the decision is reached that such measures can only bo recommended, after careful investigation, in a few isolated districts.

This makes it necessary to remember that there aro other methods - of dealing with tho disease. In England, the Netherlands, and Denmark, for instance, malaria was robbed of its importance long before its connection with tho anophelino mosquito was understood, and in spite of tho fact that these insects remain in abundance, it is evident, therefore, that it is possible to make malaria negligible, even where mosquitoes cannot be abolished, and tho Commission believes that this should be the general aim of anti-malarial work in Europe. CLEANLINESS AND QUININE. The means of lighting tho disease may be classified as direct and indirect. Two measures only are regarded by tho Commission as direct—namely, the killing of mosquitoes in human habitations and tho killing of malaria parasites in the human body. Both are described as essential. People in malarial districts must cease to give shelter to their foes; they must make their homes Uncomfortable for the anopheles by removing cobwebs and dirt, by clearing out cupboards, recesses, and dark corners, and by whitewashing. The gorged Haul sluggish mosquito ought to be considered as harmtul and disgusting as the bed hug or tho louse* It should bo caught ami killed wherever possible as part of the daily task of house-cleaning. For destruction of malaria in the body wc have quinine. Unfortunately Iho cost of this drug prevents its distribution to millions of those who need it, and tho Commission has done a service by publishing the expert conclusion that a standard preparation consisting of the principal cinchona alkaloids is as useful in treatment as pure quinine itself. It is definitely stated, moreover, that quinine is useless for the protection of uninfected persons, and the effect of these pronouncements should be to increase tho available amount of anti-malarial remedies, to divert them for use where they arc most needed, and to reduce the cost of medication. TREATMENT.

_ Even from the standpoint of prevention, treatment is one of the most important moans of combating malaria. Infected people should at onco be recognised and treated, if only because one mosquito, biting them, may carry infection to a score of human beings. In rural districts not only should there bo a free supply of quinine, but also a medical man whose duty it is to make systematic inquiries and detect the disease at an early stage. That this is necessary is obvious from tho fact that in an English malarial district in 1918 only, ‘one-third of the people affected reported spontaneously to a doctor.

A competent practitioner can do Winch to reduce the severity of the disease in ins neighborhood, and it is regrettable when the medical service ot n district is so much occupied in destroying mosquitoes that its members have no time to treat malaria! patients. INDIRECT MEASURES: BONIFICATION.

In several European countries, unfortunately, there are regions where the conditions of life are so primitive and the educational standard is so low that uo direct anti-malarial measures—apart from distribution of quinine—arc of much value. Much can be done, however, to get rid of the disease. Of all indirect means to this end the Commission attaches most importance to schemes which aim at improving the economic and social condition of the people, fsothing is more favorable to rnalaria_ than frequent movements of a population in .search of a bare living, and it is found that the disease disappears as an important cause of sickness and death when steps arc taken to provide regular work and to increase the productiveness of the land. Such “bonification” of a district does not have its effect if the reclaimed land is worked by hired laborers, who receive only a small fixed wage, and lead a life of great hardship in temporary huts and hovels: this shows that it is the higher standard of living rather than the actual measures necessary for reclamation of the land (drainage, ctc.T which is the anti-malarial factor. The open ditches and canals by which swamps are drained for agricultural purposes often breed more anopheles than the original swamps; but oven an increase of mosquitoes is far more than compensated for by the fact that the population is stabilised and aggregated into villages, and is getting a better livelihood and bettor education.

Modern medicine is learning to pay attention to the resisting powers of the body as well as to tho_ germs which cause disease. Bonification, in a wider sphere, is an attempt to raise the resistance of tho community rather than to destroy mosquitoes. Such destruction is, of course, desirable when and where it can he compassed.