How Malaria is Transmitted 1943

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. Around the world, a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds. There were 247 million cases of malaria in 2006, causing nearly one million deaths, mostly among African children. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines. Key interventions to control malaria include: prompt and effective treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies; use of insecticidal nets by people at risk; and indoor residual spraying with insecticide to control the vector mosquitoes. For more information about malaria and its control, go to the website of the World Health Organization (WHO). This is clipped from the 1943 film, The Winged Scourge, the first of a series of health-related educational shorts produced by the Disney studios and the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs for showing in Latin America. In this propaganda short, the viewers are taught about how the mosquito can spread malaria. A young mosquito flies into a house and consumes the blood of an infected human. She then consumes the blood of a ...