Cerebral malaria

Dear mouse,

Americans who planned to travel in areas where there are disease-carrying insects are required to have their shots.

This news should have made the people aware of the danger in going to places unprotected from the deadly malaria.

Reyster Langit, son of veteran radio broadcaster Rey Langit, died Friday in a US hospital, according to reports reaching The Manila Times.

Reyster, 33, died from heart failure in a hospital in Los Angeles, California. He was diagnosed with cerebral malaria, a disease he contracted in Pala­wan while o n assignment for the public affairs program Kasangga Mo Ang Langit.

His companions, DWIZ reporter Jesus Christian Macadaeg and cameraman Arnold Tanare, also contracted cerebral malaria and died from complications from the disease.

When I was in high school, we climbed a mountain in Bicol, if I remember it right, it was Mt. Bulusan.

We reached the part of the mountain where clouds just get past us that visibility became zero. The climate was so cold that the hot soup turned cold with the "sebo" on top.

After two nights in the camp, several of my companions fell ill that they were rushed to the provincial hospital.

It was due to intestinal flu.

There were no mosquitos up the mountain may be because of the wind but when we came down to pass the night in one of huts, grabe...ang mosquitos, para silang mga hayok sa laman.

Thank God, walang carrier ng malaria.

In college, my friends and I went to Zambales for a volunteer work in the forest nursery.

Somewhere, looking for some wild berries,"duhats", we lost our guide and our water supply too.

We're so thirsty that we were thankful to see a little stream (bukal) with clear water. My companions were about to scoop some water to drink when I saw "kiti-kiti". The water was not muddy. It seemed, it's clean but, the flow was so slow that it became a breeding ground for mosquitoes." During the evening, we slept in a rundown nipa hut. It was our choice. It did not have a roof so we can see the beautiful sky and the stars. Then mosquitoes started buzzing and biting us. I remembered my brother wrote from Australia that he contracted malaria but he was luckily treated at the earliest symptom when it manifested.

I can't sleep. So I feigned illness. I need to go to the doctor. The nearest clinic was 4 hours away.

One of the senior members of the team applied first aid by using her knowledge about survival in the forest. She looked for a banana tree and cut the unopened small leaf. She heated it over fire and slowly opened the leaf while applying it in my tummy.

Araaay, init.

She said that I was just pretending that I was sick, because, if not, the leaf was going to give me relief instead of burning my skin. Quackery ?

Ah ewan.Wanna go home and that was all I wanted. I know these stingers were disease carrying insects.

The Ca t