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The Fever

How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years
nftaussig
Feb 01, 2012nftaussig rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Shah, a journalist whose childhood memories of visits to India include the bed nets her relatives used to protect her from malaria, describes malaria, its effect on human history, and efforts to control the disease. Much of the material here is fascinating. Shah describes why the presence of malaria limited European efforts to colonize Africa until drugs such as quinine and chloroquine were discovered that combat the disease (however, other diseases such as yellow fever also played a major role). She also discusses how the slave trade and the habitat destruction caused by dam building contributed to the spread of the disease. Shah explains how improved drainage and mosquito habitat destruction in the developed world eliminated malaria there. Much of the book is devoted to discussing efforts to eradicate the disease through the use of antibiotics that kill the parasite that causes the disease and pesticides that kill the mosquito vector. Shah also explains why those efforts have failed due to antibiotic and pesticide resistance, lack of access to medical care in the developing world, and cultural differences. What mars the book is that she never discusses the life cycle of the parasite that causes malaria and discusses the behavior of the parasite that causes the disease in nebulous and misleading anthropomorphic terms. Also, Shah's explanations of how antibiotic and pesticide resistance develop are vague.