The name "mal 'aria" (meaning "bad air" in Italian) was first used in English in 1740 by H. Walpole when describing the disease. The term was shortened to "malaria" in the 20th century.

-medicine.net

malaria is considered as the most important tropical parasitic disease as it is responsible for the deaths of an average of more than 2 million people annually. it is an arthropod-borne disease , specifically from a mosquito infected by a microscopic organism, called Plasmodium which infecs red blood cells. symptoms characteristic of malaria include flu-like illness with fever, chills, muscle aches, and headache. cycles of fever occuring every one, two or three days is typical.
it is usually highly endemic in some parts of palawan, mindoro, ifugao, kalinga and agusan. i think the endemicity in other provinces used to be higher in the past and had already decreased since there are lesser breeding grounds for the vector with lesser swampy areas and forests.

ok. before you fall asleep, enough with the boring stuff. according to our professor, a number of residents of taguig were rushed to our institution, just a few weeks back, and they were later confirmed to have malaria. this is alarming since taguig is quite near. it's part of the metro and this places a lot of people at risk, especially those who often hang out in bars and restos in this area. it is in taguig where we find the fort. we all know a lot of us frequently hang out in these places. there is serendra and bonifacio highstreet. imagine, the mosquito can survive the pollution in this city? they reported this immediately to the Dept. of Health. i dunno if these people had a history of travel to endemic areas mentioned above. i guess the do not..oh well.. i hope it's just a minor case or i will really be afraid to go to the fort. :p

Bonifacio Highstreet

trivia: my friends laughed at me when i thought the fort was located at makati.. LOL

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yay!! so what to post? nothing very special. haha! i just got home from our pedia community. the pedia department gave free vaccinations for the babies. too bad it started to rain when we(i, together with my friends) decided to leave early. we rode the pedicab from our community near legarda back to espana.. one-way trip costs about 20 pesos per person! would you believe that??

i dunno if ive been busy or what.. or just plain lazy to update my blog. nothing special as ive said. but then i cant help but be sentimental for this special moment.. haha.. that's the corny me! im just really happy that somehow, i feel at peace these days. this blog had a rough start. i had a bumpy road, but fortunately, things are now running smoothly. time for a new chapter of new and fresher things to cherish..

to the new pages! happy blogoversary and happy medicine week! :)

wala lang!

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what would you do if you were me..?

i was riding the jeep on the way home, this afternoon.. two college girls were seated in front of me.. they were both looking on the road ahead. it just so happened that their red ID laces caught my attention for a while there.. nothing extraordinary..after a minute, a short dark guy with greasy curly hair, entered the jeep and sat beside one of the girls. something was off. there was more space in front but chose to fit himself beside the girl. he had red eyes that kept scanning the other passengers and their belongings. the eyes really scared me. he was wearing an old black shirt, a white handkerchief was tied on his wrist and he had a big , flat, empty-looking brown backpack in front of him. i knew right away..i told myself, that he's up to no good. the action started right after he paid the fare.. he then placed his backpack in front of him, grabbed the handlebar on top of his head with his right hand and hid his left arm behind the backpack.. that's an old style dude!! it was my 3rd time to catch a slasher/pickpocket doing the deed. but it still scared the hell out of me. what if he suddenly declared a hold-up? im telling you.. i was palpitating the whole time! i was looking at the girl and she was unaware of what's happening.. this guy is robbing her and i didn't know what to do. i tried to look around but it was just me and that bastard who knew.. i couldn't bear letting that poor girl become a victim of that crime. i can't stay there and do nothing! what would you do if you were in the same situation??

A. keep silent and pray that your imagination is just fooling you-pretend(?)nothing's happening??

B. you know it's happening but what the heck? as long as it isnt you, why should you bother? at least you're not the victim. that's the girl's problem since she doesnt take good care of her things.

C. try to catch the girl's attention and send her a sign that her bag is being slashed and she might lose her phone, wallet and other valuables

D. call the driver or the attention of other passengers (a guy perhaps) and ask for his/their help

i tried C. i tried to reach and kick the girl's foot but the slasher intercepted and blocked my foot.. really SCARY!! i also tried to make noise but noone noticed. ans so i did letter D. i really can't let evil happen. i always have a choice, right?? can you call that foolishness??? i woke the guy beside me and whispered to him,
"i think that guy slashed the girl's bag and he's trying to steal from her". after hearing what i said, he gave the pickpocket the "stare", the scary look. the exact same moment, the girl called the driver, told him she's getting off the jeep. she stood up and we all saw the new hole in her bag..her wallet peeking.. the pickpocket tried to talk to us and mumbled some words that we didn't understand. after a few seconds, he got off.. i think it was much better if he was caught. he must be stopped. people like him should never be wandering the streets. they deserve to be jailed. they call that a living?? how ironic! they are parasites of society.

oh well.. at least no one got hurt today.. luckily, the girl left her phone at home according to her friend..

Lesson: jeepneys and buses are not safe places to fall asleep in. it's always best to be vigilant and take good care of your belongings when commuting. but don't be paranoid, ok? :)

"Nokia N-45"

funny, i saved this photo the other day. i received this as an email from my classmate clara. N45 is a combination of a nokia phone and a .45 calibre pistol. since there are a lot of robbers and criminals in the streets, this phone would greatly benefit the people and other potential victims of the said crimes. btw, the phone is just for fun, ok? hehe..

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i told you i'll show an example of a heavily highlighted study material.. here is jac's photocopied portion of harrison's internal med latest edition.
(reason why she has to photocopy: we have the older edition which we just bought last year. the latest edition came out this year and we find it impractical to buy another set just for this rheuma/infectious d. module.most of the questions are taken from the latest edition. maybe after a few more years ill consider buying a new set.)

click to enlarge

..and this was only after her first reading. you see, the markings(circles, asterisks, keywords) and shadings tend to increase as the exams go near so this pic i showed you is still benign..

this is one desperate attempt to update this blog. hihi..:D

due to heavy rains, they suspended all classes after 3pm, but it's only after 4 that our class were officially free to go since dr. erasmo, our gen surg prof went on with his lecture from 2 to 4. i think half of the class left already after lunch. hm.. i wish they thought about that before i went to school this noon. my car's coded. i thought taking a cab was a waste of money so i rode the jeepney.. wow! i usually ride the jeep on my way home but it's been a really long time since i rode the jeepney to school. jeepneys are not airconditioned vehicles and so you'd really be exposed to the smoke, heat and dust. this AM was not that hot, besides i was a bit late for the gyne quiz. and so the trip what a bit slower than usual. manong driver almost stopped in every corner and every person he passed. kulang nalang igarahe na nya. when i got off the jeep, it started to rain really hard. it was crazy! yeah i brought my umbrella but it wasnt enough. i still had a long
walk to the building and when i got there, half of my skirt was wet and my socks were dripping. plus the aircon, it felt so cold..! i took my gyne quiz in that state. at first it was difficult to focus but surprisingly, i still did well. i guess i still had luck. lucky me! :)

BLOGOVERSARY update: 13 days to go before my blog anniversary..

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med students have always been viewed by a lot of people (not all though..just some) as serious, competitive, boring, no fun individuals who eat their books for breakfast, lunch and dinner. if they think of us that way, then they are mistaken. we have our great weaknesses as well and in my case..my overpowering, fiercest foe--is SLEEPINESS. is it due to my lack of sleep the night before 'cause of studying(drinking, partying??), did i happen to eat too much during breakfast/lunch(hyperglycemia/soporific) or is it because the lecture got so boring?? i dunno..could be due to any of the above given reasons..fortunately, we got something called coffee. lol. (i'm becoming tolerant though..the instant coffee has no effect on me as far as i'm concerned. i need brewed coffee or kapeng barako instead. anyone from batangas who's reading this blog? :p

lost carlos

oh no! got caught!

another thing you wouldn't miss is that most of us also have this OC trait. it's ok as long as it's just a trait and it doesn't interfere in the normal social and occupational functioning of a person.
med students have this passion for highlighters(check dak's site for proof)-stabilo, staedtler, faber-castell and the like-they are our bestfriends. to some highlighting had become an art resulting to highly colored notes and books wherein everything is highlighted(as in the whole paragraph or the whole page even) ill show you a sample next time. for now, here is my friend james with his bestfriends. i think he needs more or less 5 highlighters at a time everytime he listens to lectures. he makes notes at the same time as well. sipag di ba? :)

----
countdown: 20 days to go til my blog turns 1!

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it was raining this afternoon as i was riding the jeep home when i saw a banner along Quezon Avenue. St Peter Memorial Chapels has a new promo. i found the ad weird right away. i couldn't believe at first what i saw. St. Peter has a new service called "e-burol" or online viewing of wake of dead relatives and friends. isn't it a bit odd? what would be next, an online wedding? or is it already being practiced nowadays??

the last thing that we could do for a dead loved one is to pay respect by being present in their wake, right? i already found it a bit strange when i first found out that they have wifi in the chapels. i can imagine what my lolas, parents and titas would do if they catch my surfing the net during the wake.. they'll be so mad. what about the traditions, right?

i agree that viewing the wake via the internet is cheaper compared to taking a plane or bus and going personally. in a way, it's practical since it would be easier for those relatives living in other parts of the world and those who are too sick to travel..it has a manner of bringing families virtually closer but then the cost would be less or loss of human touch. what if my relative haunt me coz of that? it's not all bad, but i just think that it wouldn't work for me as of now.

what's next, videoke?

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my mom celebrated her birthday last August 19. it was also Quezon City day-for it was the birthday of the former president Manuel Luis Quezon. my mom was actually named Maria Luisa, after the late president. my brother's oath-taking ceremony also happened that same day so we had no excuse not to have a quick dinner before they drove off to the province. what a day!

Happy Birthday Mom! Congratulations to Mike and all the new nurses! :)

Birthday Noodle-this one's really good. i'm not really a fan of pancit. i'd rather have congee or mami with soup, beef and wanton during ordinary days, but this one's pretty tasty! i like the sauce with orange quail eggs, shrimp, meat and veggies.
its been a tradition to cook pancit or noodles whenever someone's celebrating his/her birthday. the long noodles signify a long, happy and healthy life. the noodles should never be cut if you don't want to cut one's life short.

Seafood Salad Roll- another favorite of mine. mix of crab sticks, some veggies, mango with mayo rolled on some sort of batter then fried. these rolls are best eaten with their secret dip-it's like tartar sauce but i'm not really sure. lol.. it's sweet and has a bit of tangy taste. the best seafood salad roll i've tasted was that of david's tea house.

I've been eating a lot that whole week and even the week before that. what else should i do? haha.. there were a lot of holidays and class suspensions due to typhoons. i can't think of better ways to spend the free time but to eat! i'm a foodie! i love food and if given a chance, i'd travel the whole world and try everything from fine dining to fast food to street food, i'm game! :) but since i'm still here in the philippines i'll settle with taco bell's mexican food. i love cheese, beef and sour cream so it's not difficult for me to love mexican food. in fact, tacos and quesadillas are some of my favorites.

Taco Bell Crunch Wrap- it's delicious and surprisingly crunchy. it's like taco, only wrapped differently and bigger in serving. i ordered this one because i feared that my first order wouldn't satisfy my appetite. i really wanted to eat rice that time and i thought that i wouldn't be satisfied with chalupa alone. that's what i thought!

chalupa- for people who are not that familiar with mexican food,they'll be mistaken and think that this is just another taco. if they look closely, the wrap used is flat bread. technically, it's heavier to the tummy compared to the regular flour or corn tortilla. it was my first time to try chalupa and i didn't expect the bread to be that crunchy. overall, i loved this mexican food encounter and i'm looking forward til the next time.

no wonder i gained 2 kilograms since 2 weeks ago! i was shocked last time i checked my weight at the gym! lolz..

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