The death threat  of the dancing mosquito

I have just been informed that mosquitoes in Sikaman are manufac­tured in Dabala in the Volta Region, from where they are carted to Soga­kofe where there is a depot to receive them in transit.

From Sogakofe, they are distrib­uted all over the country to as far as Paga. But before they reach places like Paga, they are so lean and weak and cannot bite hard.

People claim Dabala is where the mosquito factory is located because Dabala mosquitoes have distinguished themselves in several ways.

They have jaws and muscles and some of them are so plump and might be suffering from hypertension and cholesterol. Some of them are in fact so fat they can’t even smile, sorry fly. But those with moustache do not bite. They only dance.

When I was a young student, my colleagues at St. Paul’s Secondary used to tell me that mosquitoes on their campus were not common mosquitoes. They had teeth and could tear any mosquito net and descend on their victim. Some students, there­fore, decided to use calico to sew their nets to avoid ‘death by mosquito squad.’

Whatever it is, the mosquito is a very romantic creature. It doesn’t only bite. It sings love songs to the annoyance of the human ear. When they are two or three in number, they form an orchestra and entertain all night long. I hear it is the males that sing. As for the females they are al­ways busy looking out for a bite. Fear woman and live long!

Sikaman doctors are always thank­ful that mosquitoes are in abundance in the country. The mosquito gives them money. Doctors at private clinics make their money via the female mosquito. About 80 per cent of heath cases are malaria-related.

So if you want to wipe out mosqui­toes, a private doctor is likely to warn you before informing you that mosqui­toes have the constitutional right to live.

If you want to wipe out mosquitoes from Sikaman without parliamenta­ry approval, we shall deal with you. We shall make sure that mosquitoes enjoy their right to life. This will be by decree.

Well, mosquitoes will have to be wiped out any way if we can because some of us are too prone to malaria. Kwame Alomele, for instance, suffers from malaria fortnightly. Just one mosquito bite is enough to knock me out but I’m now used to the situation. Now malaria to me is like another stomach upset. In any case the drugs are becoming less and less effective in curing the disease, so most often I leave the disease to cure itself.

MYTHS

There were and are many myths about the tropic’s most common disease- malaria. When the cause of the disease was not known, it was generally attributed to bad air from which it got its name -MAL (bad) RIA (air). People were advised not to breathe the cool night air because it had malaria parasites in it. They did not know a tiny creature was causing all the havoc.

Even today, some people attribute malaria to beer drinking. Some say too much bitters give malaria. Oth­ers claim too much of sex makes one prone to malaria. If that were so, my uncle Kofi Jogolo would have died a century ago. His stylish moustache not-withstanding, he is well addicted to beer, the brand doesn’t matter. He takes bitters occasionally and openly declares that he has a restless waist. I don’t remember the last time he got sick of malaria.

So the cause must naturally fall on the mosquito. That is the culprit yesterday, today and forever. The problem with the mosquito is that it is difficult to wipe out unless the envi­ronment is carefully attended to- no stagnant water, no water in empty milk tins, no bushy surroundings, and no choked gutters. It is a very versa­tile creature which can breed any­where water collects for a while.

As it were, no mosquitoes are bred in Dabala and distributed via a depot in Sogakofe where I once lived as a kid. That was where I thought I could beat my elder brother but I often made the wrong judgement.

He was a quiet fellow and I was more open and aggressive. We fought a number of bouts and although I was losing 70 per cent of the fights, I still had hope I could floor him, taking into consideration my style, footwork and agility.

I relied on speed and aggression, but the guy was, growing faster and bigger and had more punching power. He would beat me to coma-point but I fought back gallantly and once I was praised for my accuracy and precision in punch delivery.

Years later, my Mum told me when we were at Sogakofe I was sick of malaria so often and it was so fre­quent she thought I wouldn’t live. But Kwame Alomele has always been a survivor. When I learnt recently that Sogakofe was a distributing point of mosquitoes, I realised I had once lived in dangerous territory where I started my early boxing practice.

My concern with malaria is not so much about prevention but cure. Prevention lies in our hands-KEEP A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT but cure is be­coming a problem. Chloroquine which used to be the most medically suitable drug has apparently lost its ability to deal with the disease.

Some doctors I spoke to said this is happening because people are self-medicating and abusing the drug. For example, if you do not take the full course of chloroquine and only go half way through, all the parasites wouldn’t die. The remaining para­sites will survive and later get inured against chloroquine. So further admin­istration of chloroquine least bothers the parasites.

The doctors say chloroquine is still the most effective drug. If so, there must be some education on drug use countrywide and on why people should not self-medicate. They should not self-medicate, for instance, because the disease might be typhoid and not malaria; and typhoid cannot be cured by chloroquine.

But one thing the doctors will have to explain to me is why I have malaria so often when I am not a sickle cell patient.

This article was first published

on Saturday, May 16, 1998

Merari Alomele’s

• Mosquito is a romatic creature

Your Weekend Companion

www.spectator.com.gh