El Nino's health impact in Venezuela....Cycles of malaria malaria, infectious parasitic disease that can be either acute or chronic and is frequently recurrent. Malaria is common in Africa, Central and South America, the Mediterranean countries, Asia, and many of the Pacific islands. in Venezuela correlate with an abnormal weather pattern called El Nino. That's the conclusion of a study in the Dec. 3 Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. by Menno Jan Bouma of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tropical medicine, study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of certain diseases prevalent in the tropics. The warmth and humidity of the tropics and the often unsanitary conditions under which so many people in those areas live contribute to the development and and his colleagues. Bouma's team studied 45 years' worth of data and 11 El Ninos. In some places, an El Nino can result in excessive rainfall, but the effect in Venezuela is typically drought, Bouma says. The team's findings show that Venezuela experienced a rise in malaria cases each year following an El Nino. How does the weather pattern lead to more cases of malaria? No one knows for sure. One theory is that the drought triggered by an El Nino leads to famine. People who don't get enough to eat may not mount a vigorous immune response immune response n. An integrated bodily response to an antigen, especially one mediated by lymphocytes and involving recognition of antigens by specific antibodies or previously sensitized lymphocytes. to the microorganism microorganism /mi·cro·or·gan·ism/ (-or´gah-nizm) a microscopic organism; those of medical interest include bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. that causes malaria. Bouma finds that explanation unlikely because the drought in Venezuela didn't result in food shortages. His team favors another explanation. The scientists think that the mosquitoes that transmit malaria may experience a population explosion the year after an El Nino. The authors suggest that early warning of an El Nino may help Venezuela and other malaria-prone countries prepare for the disease by stocking up on malaria-fighting drugs. An aggressive mosquito-control program might also help ward off the disease, Bouma notes. |
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