Malaria in Yunnan Province

When did you start your tricks, Monsieur?.... I know your game now, streaky Sorceror.'  
From 'The Mosquito' by D.H.Lawrence

When we were back in Scotland, trying to decide between a VSO placement in either Ningxia or Yunnan, the main question we had to ask was: 'What are the risks of catching malaria in south Yunnan'. It was a question that wasn't fully answered until we got here, but in the run-up to leaving it caused the expenditure of a lot of nervous energy! 'There hasn't been any malaria in Simao for 30 years' we were told...and now we're here we don't take any form of malaria prophylaxis (we did when we visited Laos), but we do take great care to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes as much as possible: insect sprays, long-sleeves and trousers after dusk, and mosquito nets over our beds.

There's a local (and fairly ancient) proverb in this part of China which warns: 'If you plan on going to Simao, you'd better marry off your wife first'. What exactly this means I'm not sure, but I didn't mention it to Lesley before we left for this 'Land of Lethal Vapours', as Simao used to be known! However, since the formation of the PRC in 1949 China has considerably reduced the incidence of malaria epidemics to the point where, in Yunnan, the only risk is in sparsely populated border areas in Mengla and Menglian Counties and in the low lying river valley of the Yuan Jiang (Red River).

During 1991-1995 the incidence rates of malaria in Yunnan were 5 to 10 times higher than the figure for China as a whole and malaria was the second or third cause of morbidity of communicable disease in the province. The problems of dealing with malaria are numerous - multi-drug resistance is common and the disease is often found in the mobile populations of migrant workers who inhabit the border regions (Myanmar, Laos). Health education of these ethnic minority groups is one area where resources are being focused.

    
Two million people die from malaria every year, mostly children in Sub-Saharan Africa. But did you know that 10,000 people bring it back to Europe from their foreign travels every year? Malaria is a disease of the blood caused by single-celled organism called plasmodium, a parasite found in the saliva of one species of mosquito. There are 4 types of Plasmodium, but only one (P.falciparum) is dangerous (malignant). The parasite is transferred from mosquito to human in the saliva of the biting insect.

Source from www.leafgovso.co.uk