In 1943, Walt Disney helped combat
malaria by making an animated film called
The Winged Scourge. This short film starred the seven dwarfs and taught children that mosquitoes transmit malaria, which is a very bad disease. While not specifically mentioned in the film, malaria is caused by several species of the protozoan
Plasmodium, of which
Plasmodium vivax and
Plasmodium falciparum are the most common. The most serious infections involve
P. falciparum, which causes a higher incidence of complications and death. The short film advocated the killing of mosquitoes to stop the disease.
Luckily, by 1951, malaria was finally eliminated in the United States (
eliminated means that no new cases arose in the country for 3 years). Today, oral
chloroquine is the drug of choice used for the control of acute attacks of
P. vivax malaria and for suppression against all plasmodia, except chloroquine-resistant
P. falciparum. The adverse effects of chloroquine include pigmentation of the skin and nail beds, pruritus, fatigue, toxic psychosis, and ototoxicity. In some cases, it can cause corneal opacities and retinopathy in patients that have taken it. A list of antimalarial agents are listed below:
- Chloroquine: control of acute attacks of vivax malaria; suppression against all Plasmodia spp. except chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum; oral treatment of all malaria except that caused by resistant P. falciparum.
- Primaquine: cure of relapsing vivax malaria.
- Quinine: treatment of severe P. falciparum.
- Hydroxychloroquine: treatment of acute malarial attacks caused by all forms of susceptible malaria; used adjunctively with primaquine for the eradication of P. vivax and P. malariae.
Today, about 3.2 billion people – nearly half the world population – are at risk for malaria. In 2015, there were about 214 million malaria cases worldwide and an estimated 438 000 malaria deaths. However, since 2000, malaria mortality rates have fallen globally by 60% among all age groups, and by 65% among children under age 5 due to increased malaria prevention and control measures.