Some Observations on the Incidence of Malaria among African Children

Abstract

During the study of the endemicity of yellow fever in the Ibadan area of Nigeria, West Africa, the following observations on the incidence of malaria were made. The writer as a member of the West African Yellow Fever Commission of the Rockefeller Foundation was assigned to the study of the endemic area of Southwestern Nigeria. In the course of this work twenty-one of the leading towns were visited and the mosquito indexes determined on the basis of an inspection of 100 or more houses in each town. While doing this an effort was made to see and examine any of the natives appearing to have fever. This at first was difficult due to the superstitions of the tribe (the Yoruba) and the general mistrust of the “white man.” The “Bale,” the local king, to whom application was made for permission to enter and inspect the native compounds, was reluctant to give his free permission for entering the native premises and more especially for permission to take blood smears.