Here in the Middle West, until World War II when about a million service men were treated for it in other parts of the world, we had almost forgotten about malaria, or ague. The typical attack, lasting 6 to 12 hours, begins with yawning and stretching. Chilliness increases until the whole body shivers, the teeth chatter, the fingers become dead-white and the nails blue. This is followed by a dry fever, with the skin burning hot and flushed after which the victim is drenched with sweat and is finally left weak and exhausted. Next day the patient feels fairly well but his health is gradually undermined by repeated attacks.
Malaria has a higher world-wide sickness rate and death rate than any other human disease.
It is especially prevalent in the tropics and other warm parts of the world where it is also called intermittent fever, jungle fever, blackwater fever, marsh fever and hill fever. The malaria germ is a microscopic one-celled animal parasite which attacks the red blood cells of man and destroys them, causing the victim to become weak and sallow. There are three main types, differing in the length of time required for their development in the blood cells, the number of days between attacks, the time of day when the attacks begin, and their severity. Malaria is spread from person to person entirely by mosquitoes and, furthermore, only by the bites of the females of certain common kinds of mosquitoes, known as Anopheles. The germ, which the mosquito acquires when she bites an infected person, must spend from one to two weeks in her body to complete an essential part of its life cycle.