What's in a word - Malaria

14 Jan 2021

What’s in a word – Malaria

What’s in a word – MalariaWhat is malaria?
It is a dangerous disease caused by a parasite that is carried around by certain mosquitoes. A parasite is a small animal or plant that lives on or inside a larger animal or plant and gets its food from it. Today, this disease is quite common in hot and humid countries, especially in Africa. However, the word "malaria" itself has a very unexpected origin. It came from the more pleasant climates of Italy.
Where does the word come from?
The word "malaria" comes from the Medieval Italian words “mal” meaning “bad” and “aria” meaning “air”. So it literally means “bad air”. The Medieval Period in Europe was from the 5th to the late 15th century. In those days, the term "malaria" was used to describe the unpleasant air coming from the marshland (land with a lot of wet, muddy areas) which surrounded Rome in Italy. Marshes often produce bad smells due to rotting plants, bacteria and fungi that live there. People believed that this bad smell or "unpleasant air" caused the disease. Of course, now we know the real cause. Watch the video below on how malaria is caused: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGiqxnAr2fQ

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What is malaria? It is a dangerous disease caused by a parasite that is carried around by certain mosquitoes. A parasite is a small animal […]

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