MALARIA

Over a year ago I passed an old gentleman lying flat on his back in the street in Chinatown, while smoking my pipe one afternoon. No, I did not stop; he was being ably assisted by emergency personell, one of whom was keen to find out about his medications. The questions were being asked in Cantonese.

I do not know much about any ailments in Cantonese.
Mostly, my vocabulary is strongest about food.
Not the best subject, probably.
In that instance.

"Did you recently eat anything the ingredients of which, as well as the mode or preparation, might be suspected of having caused a sudden feeling of lassitude OR existential angst?"

“你近日食咗啲嘢，其中嘅成分或模式及準備方式樣，可能會被懷疑引起精神唔振嘅覺得或著存在焦慮突然感覺嘅咩？”

['Nei gan-yat sik-jo di ye, gei-jung ge sing-fan waak mou-sik gap juen-bei fong-sik-yeung, ho-nang wui pei waai-yi yan hei jing-san m-jan ge gok-tak, waak-je chuen-jai jiu-leui dat-yin gam gok ge me?']


Sounds a bit complicated. Best to simplify, given that he's tipped over.

And taking into account my miserable pronunciation.


"Hey! How's your gout then?"

喂，你嘅痛風病，而家點樣呀，老生？

['Wei, nei-ge tung-fung beng yi-kaa dim-yeung ah, lou-saang?']


On second thought, perhaps I am not the right person to make medical inquiries. Which, more or less, brings me right to the subject of Malaria.

From Wikipedia:
瘧疾，俗稱打擺子、打老張，是一種由瘧原蟲造成的全球性急性寄生蟲傳染病，通過瘧蚊傳播。獨特癥狀為間歇性發冷發熱。世界範圍內，呈現臨床癥狀的病例每年就在3億到5億之間，每年因患瘧疾死亡的人數在一到三百萬之間，其中大部分為兒童。兒童、孕婦、旅遊者和各地的新移民對本地流行的瘧原蟲免疫力較差，故是易患瘧疾的高危人群。瘧疾主要的流行地區是非洲中部、南亞、東南亞及南美北部的熱帶地區，這其中又以非洲的疫情最甚。

口服或肌肉注射奎寧是一種有效方法。20世紀中期以後也出現了一些新的藥物，中國科學家研製的青蒿素有很好的抗瘧疾效果。不過一些瘧疾也發展出抗藥性。


"Malaria, colloquially known as "fighting tremors" or "fighting Old Chang", is a global acute parasitic infection caused by the malaria parasite, which is spread by the Anopheles mosquito. The disease is characterized by intermittent fever and chills. Cases worldwide each year showing clinical symptoms number from 300 million to 500 million, the annual number of deaths suffering from malaria between are one to three million, most of whom are juveniles. New immigrant children, pregnant women, tourists and others with low or no immunity to the parasite are particularly at a risk. Malaria is endemic in Central Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and tropical regions of the northern part of South America, but the hardest hit region is Africa by far."

"Oral or intramuscular quinine is an effective treatment method. After the mid-20th century, there were also some new drugs; Chinese scientists have developed a very good antimalarial from artemisinin. However, some strains have developed drug resistance."

[Key vocabulary:  瘧疾 'yuek jat': malaria; intermittent fever + illness, sickness; hate.  俗稱 'juk ching': commonly referred to, vulgarly known (as).  打擺子、打老張 'daa bai ji, daa lou Cheung': hitting tremors, hitting old Chiang.  瘧原蟲 'yuek yuen chung': malaria origin bug; plasmodium.  造成 'chou sing': cause, bring about.  全球性 'chuen kau sing': global, world-wide.  急性 'gap sing': acute.  寄生蟲 'gai saang chung': parasite, parasitic.  傳染病 'chuen yim beng': infectious disease.  通過 'tung gwo': by means of.  瘧蚊 'yuek man': malaria mosquito; anopheles.  傳播 'chuen bo': disseminate.  獨特 'duk dak': having the characteristic of, distinguished by.  間歇 'gaan hit': interval cease; stop while, intermittent.  發冷 'faa ling': feel chill.  發熱 'faa yit': feel heat.  範圍內 'faan wai noi': pattern encircle inside; within the scope or range of.  臨床 'lam chong': approach framework or parameters; clinical.  每年 'mui nin': each year.  患 'waan': suffer.  死亡 'sei mong': dead loss, die perish.  人數 'yan sou': person number, people count.  其中 'gei chung': that which + among, central; including, amongst which.  大部 'daai bou': great section; majority.  兒童 'yi tung': children.  孕婦 'yan fu': pregnant woman.  旅遊者 'leui yau che': journey roam agent; travelling person, tourist.  新移民 'san yi man': new shift people; recent migrants.  本地 'pun dei': original earth; local, native.  流行 'lau hang': flow, drift + walk, travel, move; spread, disperse, flow about.  免疫力 'man yik lik': evade pestilence power; immunity.  較差 'gaau chaai'; comparatively wrong; mediocre, rather faulty or flawed.  地區 'dei keui': earth area; region, district, area.  非洲中部 'fei jau chung bou': Africa central sector.  南亞 'naam (ng)aa'; Southern Asia.  東南亞 'dung naam (ng)aa'; east south Asia.  南美北部 'naam mei pak bou': south America north sector.]


I don't know why I started reading about malaria recently. Possibly it was because my apartment mate had a fit when she saw a mosquito the other day, maybe it is a potent association with certain smells.
Some types of incense drive away mosquitoes.
Among them are aquilaria woods.

I've never had malaria, and I do not intend to ever catch it either.
Living in San Francisco I am not at risk.

Never the less, I have both aquilaria wood incense and a mosquito net.
The resinous punkum has a pleasant old-timey fragrance, the gauze makes night-time dreamier.


In the year 1094, the great scholar and poet Su Tung-po (蘇東坡) was sent south to Guangdong province, with the express purpose that he should die of the miasmas and tropical diseases there and thus cease to be a nuisance to the clique then holding power in the government.
He survived six long years among the colourful birds, jungly denizens, and howling langurs south of the passes. Sadly, he died on the way home in 1101 C.E.


中秋節 CHUNG JAU JIT

The mid-autumn festival is coming up once more, this year it's on the eighth of September. Soon mooncakes will be available again, and people will be travelling home to spend the time with family. The astute reader will readily understand the mental association that brought this up; Su tung-po wrote some lovely poems about the season, which are still quoted today. Unfortunately they are rather hard to translate well.
Forgive me, I shan't even make the attempt.



"Su Shi". Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Su_Shi.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Su_Shi.jpg



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