DIET CARE AND HOME HYGIENE WHEN SUFFERING FROM MALARIA

The result of getting bitten by anAnopheles mosquito,Malariais really a parasitic infection. The mosquito simply spreads the parasite from one infected patient to the other. These parasites enter your bloodstream, tainting the red blood cells. Malaria presents itself with symptoms like anemia, fever, chills, bloody stools, headaches, vomiting and nausea, and in extreme cases, coma. Although there is no specific diet for patients suffering frommalaria, importance is given towards providing adequate nutrition.

A healthy diet ensures that your body is not exposed to unwanted stress. When someone is down with Malaria, their body is already weak and the antibiotics prescribed can further weaken the body. Hence, diet during Malaria should be purely dedicated towards improving the immune system of the patient without stressing the liver, kidneys, digestive system as a whole.

Let us look at the diet plan in detail:

• Once malaria is diagnosed, the patient can be put on an orange diet. This is highly suggested if the patient has high fever. In majority of cases, the fever stays with you for a week to ten days.
• The next stage involves eating only fruits. During this stage, the patient should be served fresh fruits. Some of the fruits that should be served are pineapples, papayas, oranges, grapefruits, grapes, apples and mangoes. Ensure that the fruit diet should not exceed for more than three days. The patient can be later given milk as milk has proteins and fats that is required by the body.
• Through the convalescing stage, the patient can be provided with a well-balanced diet that includes not only fruit but also vegetables, nuts and whole grains (apart from groundnuts and oil-rich nuts)

Though this is a suggested diet plan for malaria patients, it is highly advised that you consult your doctor before opting for any drastic dietary change.

Foods that need to be completely avoided doing Malaria include:

• Alcoholic beverages, coffee, tea and every other caffeinated beverages. Processed and refined foods, including cakes, white flour and pastries.
• Sauces, pickles, meat and other such condiments should be completely avoided.

Now, let us look at how to stay hygienic when you are down with Malaria:

• Get rid of contaminated water, use DDT on stagnant water.
• Cover your body as much as possible
• Herbal fumigation
• Bathing with Neem water is highly advised
• Ensure that you have bath with warm water twice a day
• Using mosquito repellents like Mortein will keep the mosquitoes away and reduce chances of contracting the infection. For continuous protection always use Mortein Insta5 which is two times faster than ordinary repellents