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Student studying abroad contracts malaria |
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Thursday, 22 March 2007 |
by JAMISON DORAN
News Reporter
Imagine studying abroad in a foreign country and all of a sudden becoming sick with a potentially deadly disease.
That is exactly what happened to Kali R. Osbeck, a senior Appalachian State University psychology
major, who is currently studying abroad in Ghana.
Osbeck
contracted malaria, a disease carried by mosquitoes that kills
somewhere between 700,000 to 2.7 million people every year, according
to the Centers for Disease Control.
While a scary and potentially deadly disease, Osbeck said, “It really isn’t all that bad if you are well treated.”
Osbeck believes she contracted the virus while she was in Kumasi, which is Ghana’s second largest city.
“It rained while we were there, and I ate outside for dinner at night.
I was covered in bites, and a week later I was in the hospital,” she
said.
Osbeck had taken Malarone, an anti-malaria preventative, before her
trip to Kumasi, however it only offers 50 percent protection.
“I was hospitalized for four days and treated with Quinimax (an anti-malaria drug) intravenously,” she said.
Osbeck was also given Tylenol and other drugs to help her relax.
“Some of the [medication] was through shots and others by pill, but most went through the IV,” she said.
Osbeck was on an IV for about three and a half days during her hospital stay.
She said that leaving Ghana, a place she has come to love, never crossed her mind during her sickness.
“I had a really great doctor and was in an air-conditioned room for a
week. The hospital was so much nicer than my dorm [at Appalachian],”
she said.
Her doctor assured her that she would be fine and would be able to go home quickly.
“There was also no risk of death because I was being treated,” Osbeck said.
According to CNN, researchers have developed a new advancement in preventing malaria.
A malaria-resistant mosquito is what researchers hope will one day help
stop the spread of malaria, especially in developing countries.
Osbeck does hope her experience with malaria does not deter people from studying abroad to places like Africa.
“Ghana is a wonderful country that has been independent and at peace for 50 years. It is not a violent country,” she said.
While in Ghana, Osbeck was able to attend the country’s 50th
anniversary of independence, which included many festivities and events.
Osbeck is studying in Ghana through the International Student Exchange
Program with 13 other Americans from all over the country, and is the
only Appalachian student there.
“I had always wanted to come to Africa, and Ghana is the safest country
right now,” she said. “They have a great school here and they love,
love, love Americans.”
She said it is unfortunate that Americans sometimes have misconceptions of Africa.
“When Americans think of Africa, they often think of a jungle where it is very dangerous, but it is not all that way,” she said.
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