Malaria is no fun at all

Sydney Zoo
March 29, 2004


I am unexpectedly in Monrovia - I planned to be in Buchanan until Tuesday when I will fly to Brussels and the beginning of my two-week vacation. I am here now on doctors' orders, at the tail end (I hope) of my first bout with Malaria.

It hasn't been fun. Last Saturday I felt a general soreness in my mouth along with cold sweats and I realized I'd been feeling lethargic for a day or two already. On Sunday I had did a 'Paracheck' blood test which detects only the most common malaria parasite here. The test was negative but on Monday I did a blood smear and although the hospital lab technician who can distinguish malaria parasites was not available, the lab did confirm I had malaria. Meanwhile I grew more and more sleepy and less and less useful at work and more and more irritable (and probably irritating). I developed a 'geographic tongue' (misshapen by sores) and an intolerance to anything in my mouth except salty water. Before raiding my bosses fridge here this afternoon, the last thing I ate was canned pears, very gingerly, on Tuesday. I completed a course of combined drug therapy but yesterday tested positive again for Malaria. Today, Dr. Simon (my colleague in Buchanan) and Dr. Julius (our Chief Medical Coordinator here in Monrovia) sent me to Monrovia for further observation. Actually I feel a bit better today - and even think I'll be going to a farewell party this evening.

In a certain way I'm glad to know a little more about Malaria. It can manifest itself in various ways - for instance I was never observed to have a fever. I was never in danger because I live and work with two nurses and a doctor but I felt sick enough to be able to imagine how it would have developed without expert treatment. Malaria is the number one cause of mortality (and morbidity) in Liberia - it kills about one person a week right in our own hospital. I'm glad I'm one of the much luckier victims.



In a lighter vein, I've just finished reading a great fiction series lead by The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. (You can see all my recent reading here.) These are remarkably delightful books about a 'traditionally-built' private detective in modern Botswana - which Smith makes sound like paradise. The books are at once hilarious, feminist, pro- and against development, ethics manuals (Altering the Blueprint: The Ethics of Genetics is by the same author) and guides to human failings. Most importantly, they are gentle and charming. Two thumbs and two big toes up.