Abstract
IN an inaugural thesis (Thèse de Paris, No. 548 ; 1938), F. L. Richards states that malaria is the most prevalent disease in Albania, especially in the low-lying regions, where it is closely associated with the presence of lakes, marshes and other places inundated by the mountain water courses. It is more or less endemic in villages near streams and their affluents. Most of the patients under treatment in the hospitals are suffering from this complaint, which in some parts of the country affects 50 per cent of the population. All clinical forms of the disease are found, malignant tertian being the commonest. In addition to its high incidence in the civilian population, malaria is the most frequent disease in the Albanian army. Its prevalence is highest in June, July, August and September, and sometimes there is a rapid rise in the number of cases in October ; but August and September are the months in which the disease is most intense. The death-rate is higher in children than in adults. The spread of the disease is favoured by the unhygienic habits of the Albanian people and is therefore most pronounced among the poor. At the suggestion of the King of Albania, a five-year plan has recently been introduced for combating the disease.
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Malaria in Albania. Nature 142, 1154 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/1421154c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1421154c0