Did you Know
by admin
Jan 14, 2006
3 Comments
Filed under: Knowledge
That the word malaria comes from the words mal and aria, which is Italian for bad air. This derives from the ancient belief that all diseases are caused by bad, or dirty air.
3 Comments
matthew
Jan 16, 2006 | 12:16 am
I think it’s a bit less general than that.
It is because Mosquitos, the vector for Malaria, need stagnant or standing water for their breeding cysle. Stagnant or standing water such as that found in swamps tends to be a wee bit smelly from the decaying organic matter it contains.
Hence the bad air around them or mal-aria.
KarmaDude
Jan 16, 2006 | 12:58 am
Mosquitos as a vertor for Malaria was not dicovered up until 1897. However, you might be right with the origin having to do with smelly swamps, since the Romans did mention it had something to do with the swamps, and in mediaeval Rome,it might have been a word used to describe the stench from the swamps in Rome.
KarmaDude
Jan 17, 2006 | 9:44 pm
You can find some more interesting mosquito facts at control-mosquitoes.com