My myriad mosquital maladies
Malaria is easy. Everybody gets malaria. And zika, that’s assumed now too after all the press coverage. Then if you’ve traveled you’ve heard of dengue, and probably chikungunya too, even if you’re not sure which one is “bone-break fever.” Maybe both?
But hiking through the Guyanese jungle with health volunteers from the Peace Corps allowed me to learn about such new friends as filariasis and leishmaniasis, though nobody’s quite sure how to spell that second one. (Let me help you: don’t google it. Just don’t.)
I’m a big fan of knowledge, but as I looked down at the mosquito and sand flea bites speckled up my legs and hands, satellite camps on my ribs, I wondered how necessary this info really was.
Okay that’s kinda gross. Sorry. Can you see the dots?
For example, did I need to know that it takes years for filariasis’s gift of elephantiasis to show up? That right there is a gift that’ll keep on giving for a while.
Or leishmaniasis. As the sand fleas nibbled the tops and bottoms of my feet, did I need to know that they cause skin ulcers described as a sort of localized leprosy? Or that treatment involves scooping out those sections of yourself that are infected?
I don’t know that this knowledge is particularly useful to have. Nor did I really need to know how many bites I had, so it was okay that it got hazy around the 200 mark.
What IS useful is a deep gratitude to live in a place as intensely benign as North America (at present, because give climate change a chance and these babies will join our party too).
This mining camp was beautiful and welcoming. Nevermind the sand fleas.
So I’m going to add that to my back burner of daily gratitude. As I go get a big glass of delicious and safe tap water, ponder biking around my (relatively) safe town, and consider which of the historically unprecedented array of tempting foods to lunch on just because I like the taste, I will take a minute to look at the absence of a cloud of infectious mosquitoes buzzing around my ankles, and give thanks.
Then I’ll send a wish of well-being for all the Peace Corps volunteers who gave up these privileges in order to hopefully help some people who never had them. Those people are heroes. Doing our nation proud. For some reason I desperately need to focus on that right now.
Yep, Peace Corps workers are true heroes. By the way, I have a copy of ‘Preservation of personal health in warm climates’ by The Ross Institute of Tropical Hygiene. It covers both filariasis and leishmaniasis, and a whole lot more.
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Sounds like useful and perhaps terrifying reading! Would/did you seek prophylactic treatment for filariasis after being in such an area, just in case? (I’m not planning to, but man I hope I don’t get it down the road!)
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We didn’t seek treatment, but it might be wise to inquire further.
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I’m hoping that the apparent healing of all the bites, which are just little red dots now, is a good enough sign! May all your maladies be minor and far between, my traveling inspiration!
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I have a cousin who was just accepted into the Peace Corps and will be heading to West Africa (I haven’t been told which specific country) in a few weeks.
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I wish them all the best! (And if you go visit, I look forward to your photos of it!)
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I may need to take this post down already! (Because of #s 3 & 4) Read this instead: https://qz.com/1169003/the-99-best-things-that-happened-in-2017/
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You’re a hero as well, just for visiting them and for pointing out the fabulous work of the Peace Corps.
Shame on me I don’t think of them (and all the other people who good work for peace, health, environment, animals etc…) as often as I should.
Safe travels, Sending you kind regards from Big John as well.
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No need for shame! Hopefully just a little pick-me-up whenever we touch on the people doing wonderful things (but getting no headlines for them). Cheers to you both!
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Beautiful story. Thank you.
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It was? I thought it was kind of abhorrent! But thank you anyway my friend!
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I just had to google them…. The Guyanese jungle seems so powerful and rich in a versatile world!
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It really was! There was also a fungus that our guide found and cooked up that was delicious! I don’t mind that most of the spiders and snakes successfully hid from us, and was impressed by what we could see!
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Your post was very informative and interesting. The picture is beautiful, I love visiting those kind of places when I travel. Thank you for sharing!
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