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This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature. ... Read more

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This book is an edited collection of papers by leading experts on the population genetics and evolutionary biology of malaria, a disease which results in three million deaths each year in the world. "Malaria Hypothesis" refers to the hypothesis, which was proposed by J.B.S. Haldane at the 8th International Congress of Genetics in Stockholm in 1948, that the identical geographic distribution of both falciparum malaria and thalassemia in the mediterranean region suggests that the heterozygous individuals for thalassemia (or microcythemia as it was called then) might have greater resistance to malarial infection. Haldane, later in the same year, expanded his theory to infectious disease in general at another international conference, at Pallanza in Italy. Haldane's hypothesis was subsequently confirmed in the African populations by A.C. Allison and later by others during the last fifty years, although at first for sickle cell anemia and later for thalassemia with varying degrees of success. The malaria hypothesis still remains today a unique example of that kind of balanced polymorphism, not only in genetics but in all of biology. It opened up new insights into our perspective of the genetics and population dynamics of disease prevalence, particularly infectious disease.

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"Molecular Approaches to Malaria" provides an overview of the rapid and significant developments that have occurred in malaria research, including the 2002 genome sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum and its mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae. This work: provides a concise source of up-to-date research findings; appeals to a diverse audience, including malaria researchers, teachers, investigators, and public health professionals; offers contributions by recognized malaria researchers with practical experience; and, presents comprehensive coverage of topics including a clearly written introduction to Plasmodium molecular biology. ... Read more

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Until the middle of the seventeenth century, little was understood about malaria, the deadly disease that decimated populations and crippled armies. A legend, however, persisted about a beautiful Spanish countess who was cured during a stay in Peru by drinking a medicine made from the bark of a miraculous tree. And so began the search for the elusive cinchona tree by a trio of British explorers who sought to rid the world of malaria. Today, in laboratories and research facilities, the hunt continues—this time for a vaccine against the disease that eludes all efforts to contain it.
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Customer Reviews (4)

History of Malaria
The Fever Trail:In Search of the Cure for Malaria.
Malaria is a huge worldwide problem.And it's getting worse.More countries are reporting cases of Malaria.Resistance to the standard drugs is growing.This book gives a good overview of the history of Malaria and provides a complete discussion of the discovery and search for Quinine.For me, the most interesting part of the book are the last chapters which cover the new drugs for Malaria and the direction of research on vaccines against Malaria.Since I am involved in Malaria vaccine research, I was most interested in that aspect and this book does not have as much detail about vaccines as I would like.If you are looking to learn more about the history of Malaria this is a great book.

The True Cost of Things We Take for Granted
"The Fever Trail" is a remarkable tale of the quest for a cure for malaria.Unfortunately the early and hard won triumphs of quinine have been somewhat short lived. Now malaria threatens us again throughout the warmer parts of the planet, but the quinine story is none the less riveting for that.Quinine is no longer the preferred treatment for the disease, but it made exploration of the tropics by Europeans possible, as well as making parts of Europe and North America more habitable.The difficulties and missteps involved in the development of quinine are echoed in just about every drug, food or other product that we now take for granted.Such items as honey, sugar, antibiotics, nuclear power, crop varieties, domestic animals, plastics, computers, etc., each have their own stories and at least some of these need to be more emphasized to make us all less complacent.The message is that knowledge is often hard won and needs to be respected.It can also (as in nuclear power) be a double-edged sword.

While the author often rambles, I did not find this too much of a distraction.Instead I was (as I say above) impressed by how human perseverance and even deviousness had managed to overcome huge obstacles to deliver the miracle drug quinine to the outside world. This part of the malaria story has been seldom told in a popular book until now and "The Fever Trail" is very noteworthy for this reason.

The later chapters cover discovery of the malarial parasite, the modern era of anti-malarial drugs, and the attempts to develop a vaccine, parts of the malaria story that several other authors have dealt with as well. The complexities of developing a vaccine are now more appreciated than they were when various researchers started working on the problem and made unsubstantiated and very rosy predictions which proved overblown.Malaria still threatens us and the long battle with this "tropical" disease is far from over.If nothing else, Mark Honigsbaum has reminded of this.

nearly very good
Good God, when I consider the melancholy fate of so many of botany's votaries, I am tempted to ask whether men are in their right mind
who so desperately risk life and everything else through the love of collecting plants.
-Carolus Linnaeus, Glory of the Scientist

If you've ever read James Clavell's great novel, Tai-Pan--and if you haven't, shame on you--you'll recall that when Dirk Struan's beloved Chinese mistress, May-may, comes down with malaria, the proud Protestant trader is forced to go hat in hands to the Catholic bishop to secure a cure for her : cinchona bark.As Clavell renders the tale, only the Catholics, thanks to the presence of their missionaries in South America have access and no the secrets of this marvelous remedy.

Well, comes now Mark Honigsbaum to reveal the remarkable true story behind cinchona bark, of its discovery, of the realization that the quinine that can be derived from the bark can cure malaria (though certain trees produce more quinine), of the attempts of the natives to maintain a monopoly on it, and of the colonial adventurers who set out to steal it from them.The bulk of the book is taken up with exciting expeditions into the Andes in search of the bark, led by men like Richard Spruce, Charles Ledger, and Clements Markham.But these stories eventually begin to run together and as they pile atop one another the feats performed no longer seem so remarkable.The author also has something of an axe to grind, referring to the eventual illicit exportation of the cinchona trees to Java and India which broke the South American monopoly as one of history's greatest robberies.this has the unfortunate effect of making the heroes of the book come across simultaneously as villains.Moreover, it seems a debatable point whether the "robbery" was justified, since the original bark exporters proved unable to meet demand and since for those with malaria access to the medicine it produces can be a matter of life and death.

Even today malaria still kills as many from one and a half to three million people a year and Mr. Honigsbaum ends with a section on the current science and the ongoing search for a cure.One of the more promising lines of research appears to involve a DNA vaccine, taking DNA from the mosquito-born parasite that causes malaria and injecting it into muscle in order to get the immune system to produce T cells that will attack the parasite when it appears in the body.this is all interesting enough, but has the feel of having been tacked on to flesh out the book.

Ultimately this seems a case where less would have been better.For instance, had Mr. Honigsbaum just told the story of one of the cinchona hunters.Or perhaps he might have gone the historical novel route and combined some of the characters.As it stands, while much of the background on malaria is fascinating and the various searches for cinchona are exciting, the narrative ends up being a bit too diffused.One never really has a sense that the author had a necessary end point he was trying to reach, and so he seems to be meandering.Some of the meanders prove worthwhile in their own rights, but the attention does begin to wander.It's a book worth reading but it's frustrating in that one suspects a better book lurks within.

GRADE : C+

The Quest for Quinine
Malaria is still with us and getting worse.The story of the complicated, centuries-long battle against the disease that kills about a million people a year in Africa alone is well told in _The Fever Trail: In Search of the Cure for Malaria_ by Mark Honigsbaum.It is a story of astonishing human hardship in the effort (not always inspired by riches) to get understanding and control of the disease, but it is sadly clear by the end of the tale that despite the optimism of individual researchers, the tiny parasites borne by mosquitoes all over the world are simply too complicated for us to control any time soon.

Much of the effort to cure malaria was sparked as Europeans spread over the world and found their lives in jeopardy from it.The Jesuits learned (perhaps from the Indians) about the bark from the cinchona tree, and the church recommended its use.Physicians in northern Europe, however, were deeply suspicious of such a papist and Jesuitical drug; Cromwell, according to legend, refused the "Popish remedy," and died. Even-tually the efficacy of the drug triumphed over religious bigotry.Much of The Fever Trail has to do with the nineteenth century race to steal specimens and get them to plantations owned by Europeans.In particu-lar, the efforts of three Englishmen, who in independent efforts, suffered unbelievable deprivations on the trail which are well described here.Strangely, the British efforts amounted to little.The Dutch bought seeds for £20 from one of the explorers, and they happened to be the very best specimens.They went to Java, grown in scientifically designed plantations, and the Dutch cornered the market on quinine.

If quinine were a real cure, malaria might now be as dead as smallpox.However, the parasite that causes the disease has a complicated life cycle within mosquitoes and humans, and is not so easily banished.It has become resistant to quinine and the other antimalarial drugs derived from quinine.The attempt by the World Health Organization to use DDT to blitz the mosquito forever from the Earth was a failure that showed just how resourceful evolution could be in making mosquitoes resistant as well.What is needed is a foolproof vaccine, but although we have vaccines against various viral illnesses, no one has been able to invent one that works against a parasite.The attempts to develop a vaccine, the complicated finances of making drugs that can be used in impoverished countries, and the advantages of the mosquito net (whose inventor, David Livingstone said, deserved a statue in Westminster Abbey) are all covered in a fascinating book that reads like dispatches from a long, losing war.With the prospect of global warming extending the reach of the mosquitoes, it may be that the worst of the war is yet to come. ... Read more

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Malaria is a serious disease caused by a tiny mosquito-borne parasite called Plasmodium. It once affected entire empires, but thanks to the work of health organizations, malaria is now mostly confined to warm, moist climates. Scientists are still at work today, however, developing methods of curing the disease and destroying its carriers. ... Read more

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A rich and wonderful history of quinine -- the cure for malaria.In the summer of 1623, ten cardinals and hundreds of their attendants, engaged in electing a new Pope, died from the 'mal'aria' or 'bad air' of the Roman marshes. Their choice, Pope Urban VIII, determined that a cure should be found for the fever that was the scourge of the Mediterranean, northern Europe and America, and in 1631 a young Jesuit apothecarist in Peru sent to the Old World a cure that had been found in the New -- where the disease was unknown.The cure was quinine, an alkaloid made of the bitter red bark of the cinchona tree, which grows in the Andes. Both disease and cure have an extraordinary history. Malaria badly weakened the Roman Empire. It killed thousands of British troops fighting Napoleon during the Walcheren raid on Holland in 1809 and many soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. It turned back many of the travellers who explored west Africa and brought the building of the Panama Canal to a standstill.When, after a thousand years, a cure was finally found, Europe's Protestants, among them Oliver Cromwell, who suffered badly from malaria, feared it was nothing more than a Popish poison. More than any previous medicine, though, quinine forced physicians to change their ideas about treating illness. Before long, it would change the face of Western medicine.Using fresh research from the Vatican and the Indian Archives in Seville, as well as hitherto undiscovered documents in Peru, Fiammetta Rocco describes the ravages of the disease, the quest of the three Englishmen who smuggled cinchona seeds out of South America, the way quinine opened the door to Western imperial adventure in Asia, Africa and beyond, and why, even today, quinine grown in the eastern Congo still saves so many people suffering from malaria. ... Read more

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Challenging traditional approaches to medical history, Disease in the History of Modern Latin America advances understandings of disease as a social and cultural construction in Latin America. This innovative collection provides a vivid look at the latest research in the cultural history of medicine through insightful essays about how disease—whether it be cholera or aids, leprosy or mental illness—was experienced and managed in different Latin American countries and regions, at different times from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Based on the idea that the meanings of sickness—and health—are contestable and subject to controversy, Disease in the History of Modern Latin America displays the richness of an interdisciplinary approach to social and cultural history. Examining diseases in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, the contributors explore the production of scientific knowledge, literary metaphors for illness, domestic public health efforts, and initiatives shaped by the agendas of international agencies. They also analyze the connections between ideas of sexuality, disease, nation, and modernity; the instrumental role of certain illnesses in state-building processes; welfare efforts sponsored by the state and led by the medical professions; and the boundaries between individual and state responsibilities regarding sickness and health. Diego Armus’s introduction contextualizes the essays within the history of medicine, the history of public health, and the sociocultural history of disease.

Contributors. Diego Armus, Anne-Emanuelle Birn, Kathleen Elaine Bliss, Ann S. Blum, Marilia Coutinho, Marcus Cueto, Patrick Larvie, Gabriela Nouzeilles, Diana Obregón, Nancy Lays Stepan, Ann Zulawski ... Read more

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Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. It infects between 300 and 500 million people every year and causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is not just a disease commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development. Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public health problem. The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The most serious forms of the disease are caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, but other related species (Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae) can also infect humans. This group of human-pathogenic Plasmodium species are usually referred to as malaria parasites. This book presents leading-edge new research in this field. ... Read more

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"In North America, mosquito bites are usually only a nuisance. But in areas such as Africa and Southeast Asia, the bite can be deadly. There, many mosquitoes transmit a disease called malaria--and malaria can be a killer. In Africa, one child dies from malaria every thirty seconds. Worldwide, more than one million people die from malaria each year. What can be done to stop this global killer?

This book examines how public health organizations work to protect people from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, how doctors care for people who do get malaria, and how researchers try to better understand and fight malaria. But malaria presents a complex puzzle for researchers. The parasite that causes malaria takes several different forms and can damage the body in many ways.

Malaria does its worst damage among people in poor nations. These countries often have inadequate public health and medical systems, making prevention and treatment difficult. In addition, children who are sick with malaria cannot go to school. Adults with malaria cannot work. Thus malaria often pushes poor people deeper into poverty." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a stunning book about malaria, a "major global killer," that is making a comeback around the world ...
Many young people are unaware of the impact of malaria on the lives of people around the world.Historically, the United States had its battle with it, but by 1951 it was eradicated.Many of us have read about malaria when we read Laura Ingalls recount how her family was plagued with fever `n ague.Ma was convinced that it had been caused by watermelon and was not happy when Pa decided to sample some after their scary encounter with what is now known as malaria.This once mysterious disease has been around for thousands of years.Romans dubbed it "mala aria" or "bad air."

Over the centuries there was a considerable amount of speculation as to the origin and cause of the disease.In this book you will read about the history of malaria and the actual discovery as to what caused this very serious illness.Each year "malaria sickens between three hundred million and five million people around the world," many of whom perish from it, especially young children.In spite of major efforts to eradicate the disease it is making a resurgeance and is once again being known as a "major global killer."

So what does cause this mysterious disease and what are its symptoms?In fact there are two forms of malaria, each form transmitted to a human being via an "Anopheles" mosquito infected by one of four different "Plasmodium" parasites.In this book you will meet the three scientists who solved the puzzle of how the disease was transmitted and what caused it.The symptoms are exhibited in three stages:The cold stage, the hot stage, and the wet stage.The afflicted person will experience chills, shivering, fever, headaches, and profuse sweating.

This startling book will take the reader through history and around the world teaching us many interesting facts about the disease that is once again a rearin its ugly head. Among the many things that one will learn is that it is one of the top three "dreaded diseases" today, how it is transmitted, you'll get a detailed look at the parasite that causes it, ancient treatments, current prevention methods,a host of stunning new research approaches, how "Cinchona" bark proved to be a miracle cure, why the disease is making a comeback, how global warming is "setting the stage for malaria where it never before occurred," why we went backward in our efforts to eradicate the disease, we will learn about such things as "imported malaria," we'll get a glimpse at success stories with school-based programs, and we'll get to learn about many, many more interesting facets of this disease.Do you have any idea what a transgenic mosquito is?Check it out on pages 97-98 of this book . . . you're going to be amazed!

This is a stunning book about malaria, a "major global killer," that is making a comeback around the world.When I first started reading this book I was wondering why anyone would want to write so much about this disease (especially one we don't have in this country), but by the time I reached the end of this amazing book I understood why.It was very well written and researched.There were photographs and numerous informative sidebars scattered throughout the book.For example, in one of the sidebars, which spanned two pages, we learn about the dishonesty of some people who actually sell fake malaria medications that are "flooding Asia and Africa" and how people can now test to determine if they are real or not.The more I read I quickly understood that my "why" should have been "why not?"In the back of the book there is a timeline, a thorough index, a glossary, source notes, a selected bibliography, and additional recommended book, film, organizations, and website resources to explore. ... Read more

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Internationally respected scientists and clinicians describe in step-by-step detail their most useful conventional and cutting-edge techniques for the study of malaria. Areas covered include clinical and laboratory diagnosis and typing, animal models, molecular biology, immunology, cell biology, vaccinology, laboratory models, and field applications. Each readily reproducible protocol has been tested, standardized, and optimized for experimental success, and includes many laboratory notes on troubleshooting, avoiding pitfalls, and interpreting results. Several of the most widely used methods are described here in detail for the first time or have been thoroughly updated since their original publication (e.g., in vitro culture of Plasmodium parasites and in vitro growth inhibition assay). ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This book reviews all of the hematological changes and interactions in malaria, one of the most important transmissible diseases in human beings. In doing so, it emphasizes the importance of malaria as a primarily hematological disease. It aims to increase the awareness and interest among hematologists, malariologists and tropical physicians. ... Read more

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The only comprehensive reference in its field, this edition surveys the wealth of material and methods which have been developed on its subject.The book covers the practical applications aimed at helping to understand and control epidemics from a public health perspective.The author discusses advances in computer technology which have opened new opportunities for parameter estimation and simulation studies. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more