The recent outbreak of plague in Madagascar has raised the spectre of ancient diseases, with history books full of episodes where this disease wiped out millions of people in the centuries before antibiotics. 25 million was the estimate for the first pandemic in around 541 AD. The Black Death (the second pandemic) originated in China … Continue reading Plague just sounds scary

A holiday trip to Rome or a business trip to a remote site in the DRC via Lubumbashi - these journeys can be a lot simpler and less hassle if one follows a few basic principles. Dr Charl's travel bullets 101: Get your paperwork in order. Ensure enough blank pages (some countries like at least … Continue reading International travel 101

So for thousands of years, it was thought that the cause of malaria was in fact "something in the air" - bad swamp vapours in fact. Hence the name. It was only in 1880 that the vector borne parasite was even identified. So now we know - it is a parasitic disease caused by various … Continue reading Malaria – not just “bad air”

This is the excerpt for your very first post.