Day 10

Hooray! I'm about to post the last entry I'll need!
The epidemic is clearing up a lot. Malaria is still, of course, endemic in Brazil; until we can eradicate malaria, it always will be. The only hope of that is making a vaccine. But nobody has really been able to make a very good one. The most promising vaccine we have is made by Manuel Patarroyo, but it only stopped 30% of deaths. We will need a more effective vaccine to eradicate malaria.
Good-bye. My last entry :)

Day 9

Some news today. Just because I'm stuck in bed, doesn't mean I can't get calls. Monica is going to be okay. She's got a small form of malaria; she gets symptoms in waves with intervals of 48 hours. I've got the same kind. I'll be heading home in a few months; no permanent damage. I feel really, really lucky. At least I'll go home someday.

Day 8

They confirmed today that this epidemic is starting to clear a little. I guess we're helping. They also said that the workers could start to go home. In fact, I was starting to get packing earlier.
Then I was sick.
Chills, sweating, fever, fatigue. Perfect. I'm going to be perfectly okay, of course, but it'll be a few months before I can go home. I'm stuck in bed now. This sucks.

Day 7

I woke up this morning feeling a little chilled, once again. It hasn't come around with the other symptoms, like fever and sweating, so I'm probably okay. No wonder I'm feeling chilled; I noticed it gets really cold here at night. During the day, I gave out pamphlets on how to ward off mosquitoes to protect everybody.

Put insecticide-sprayed nets on doors, windows, and over yourself when you sleep.
Long sleeved clothing and long pants.
Etc.

There were less new cases today than yesterday. Starting to feel a little hopeful.

Day 6

I woke up feeling really weird today. I felt a little chilled. The other workers told me to keep my eyes on myself for a few days, there's a small chance I could be contaminated. I don't know about that, though. I told them not to waste money on a diagnosis. I should be fine if it turns out I did catch malaria. But if I did have a diagnosis, it would have consisted of a test for anemia, which is a disease caused by a lack of red blood cells, which would probably come if I got a severe case of malaria. I would also be tested for exhaustion and an enlarged spleen. The good news is, the deadly kind, malara falciparum, doesn't come around in Brazil much. It mostly pops up in Africa. I should be OK.

Day 5

I got in to see Monica today. Protective gloves, insecticide, net, all that stuff. She looks okay, but she's isolated since malaria is highly contagious. I'm still worried, though. I met with more patients and doctors. Most of the patients will recover. Most of them also look fine; the symptoms should come in waves, every 48 or 72 hours. It depends on what kind of plasmodium that the mosquito was wearing on its salivary glands. Ew.

*UPDATE*

I just got a call. It's 1 a.m. My big sister Monica, who lives here, has come down with malaria. It's the non-deadly kind that only causes minor symptoms every once in a while, so she'll be O.K. Nevertheless, I'm worried sick. I've been sleepless for 3 hours now.

Day 4

I just now noticed; insecticide made locally seems to be really expensive here. Either everyone's buying so much that the price is blowing up, or the price is the REASON so few people have any. I've been going around giving out free American insecticide and mosquito nets to the local people here.

Day 3

I met with doctors and patients of malaria today. Some of the patients look really bad, and, I mean, REALLY bad. I assured them they'd be okay.
I had to wear protective gear the whole time. It was a little annoying. I also have to spray myself, and my clothes with insecticide. I also have to put mosquito nets over my bed and over my windows, and drench THOSE with insecticide, too.

Day 2

Today, although I had already been drilled on this in training, they told me all about the details of malaria. It's carried by mosquitoes, or, to be more specific, female anopheles mosquitoes. Thanks to the high mosquito population in Brazil, it's endemic here. It's caused by germs called plasmodiums, and they hide in the salivary glands of the anopheles, and enter the humans through their skin when the anopheles bites them. Then, they travel to the liver, enter the bloodstream, and start to reproduce, causing symptoms with the reproduction cycle. It's serious. Malaria falciparum, caused by the plasmodium falciparum bacteria, can kill you or cause permanent brain damage. I don't know which is worse.

Day 1

I got yet another call from the Health Department this morning. One of the workers got infected, in fact, with malaria falciparum, the most severe form of malaria. It can cause brain damage and internal bleeding. He isn't going to make it. I volunteered to come in and replace him. I got on a plane to Brazil this morning and arrived only a few hours ago. There was a man there, and he asked me to tell him if I think I've got any symptoms of malaria. Fever, chills, shaking, sweating, fatigue. Got it.

Day 0

I got a call from the Health Department today. There's a major outbreak of malaria going on in Brazil. Since it's a poor town that can't afford to treat malaria, they sent health care workers and doctors in. I'm not mobilized yet, but if one of the workers comes down with it and can't work, I may be called in.
I'm worried. They told me the village is called Larnon. I think that's the one that my big sister lives in.