This tropical parasitic disease is transmitted by Anophelese mosquitos. Symptoms include fever, shivering, joint pain, headache, repeated vomiting, generalized convulsions and coma. Early diagnosis and immediate treatment are key to fighting malaria. Although the geographic area affected by malaria has shrunk over the last 50 years, control is becoming increasingly difficult. The disintegration of health services, armed conflict and the mass movement of people also contribute to the spread of the disease.
Malaria is a curable disease for which a limited number of drugs are available.
Increasing resistance to these drugs, however, means that the cost of treating malaria continues to rise. Sleeping Sickness Human African Trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, is caused by the bite of a tsetse fly carrying the trypanosome parasite. Tsetse flies are found in sub-Saharan Africa, near water sources and in forested areas. During the early stages of the disease, people often present a range of symptoms including fever, general weakness, an aching sensation, headaches and itchiness. Swollen lymph glands are a common early sign.