Question

Which among the following control measures would not help preventing the spread of malaria?
A. Covering windows with netting
B. Drinking boiled water
C. Keep surroundings dry and clean
D. Spraying insecticides on stagnant water

Answer 1

Hint:- Malaria is a life-threatening disease that is spread through the mosquito bite. Infected mosquitoes carry the parasite which causes the disease and through the bite of the mosquito, the parasite enters the body causing the disease.

Complete answer:
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. When the mosquito bites a person, the parasite plasmodium is directly released into the bloodstream of that person. The parasites then travel to the liver where their maturation takes place and after their maturation, they enter the bloodstream again to infect the Red blood cells (RBCs). After about 48-72 hours, they start multiplying inside the RBCs and thereby bursting them out.
As the disease is transmitted through the mosquitoes, thus covering windows and other entrance points of the house with a net could regulate their entry inside the house. We know that mosquitoes breed in stagnant water very quickly, thus it is necessary to keep the surrounding environment clean and dry, and at the places where stagnant water is present, spraying insecticides prevents the growth of mosquitoes. These measures help in preventing the disease. Thus, from the above options, drinking boiled water would not help in preventing the spread of malaria.
So the correct option is (B) Drinking boiled water.

Note:- There are four species of the malaria parasite that causes disease in humans – Plasmodium vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale, among which P. falciparum is the most harmful species. Symptoms of malaria are typically developed after 10-14 days of infection. Common symptoms are high fever, headache, shaking chills, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, etc.