Malaria and More: The Silent Epidemic That Strikes Every Rainy Season.
There’s something that has really been bothering me lately, and I just felt like letting it out.
For the past few days, it’s been raining over here in Osun. The rain has been so heavy, especially on Thursday, that most of our lectures didn’t even hold. Everyone just stayed indoors, trying to keep warm and dry. It felt like the entire school was on a break that day, not because it was planned, but simply because the weather made it impossible to function normally.
But what’s been troubling me is something I’ve noticed that seems to happen around this time every year. Since the rain started falling heavily, the cases of malaria have gone up. And I’m not just talking about one or two people—it’s becoming a serious issue. In my own room alone, two of my roommates have already fallen sick. One was even so weak that he couldn’t go to class for days. When he eventually managed to go to the clinic, he came back and told us that there wasn’t enough space to admit more students. The place was already full of sick students, most of them battling malaria.
And it’s not just in my room or even my hostel. Almost everywhere I go on campus, I hear people coughing, sneezing, or talking about body pain and fever. I’ve even seen people sleeping in class or looking completely drained during lectures. It honestly feels like the entire school is under some sort of health attack. Even me—I haven’t been feeling too well myself. Since yesterday, I’ve been having constant catarrh and sneezing. My head feels heavy, and my body has been a bit off.
It makes me wonder—why does this always happens during the rainy season? I know stagnant water from the rain creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which spread malaria, but sometimes it feels deeper than that. It’s like our environment becomes more dangerous the moment it starts raining. The cold, damp atmosphere makes it easy for viruses to spread too, especially things like flu and cold. For students who are already managing stress, lack of sleep, and poor diet, the body just gets weaker during this time.
I think this is something we don’t talk about enough. Students are falling sick left and right, and there’s only so much the school clinic can do. Prevention is key, but how many of us are really sleeping under mosquito nets, drinking clean water, or even taking our health seriously? We sometimes ignore the early symptoms until they become too bad to handle.
I absolutely hate living inside heat, so i love the rainy season because it helps to make it everywhere cool and make it easier to stay indoors. But at the same time, it brings health challenges that we all need to be aware of. Maybe it’s time we started talking about it more, educating ourselves and others on how to stay safe during this period. Honestly, watching people around me fall sick every day is starting to feel scary.
I just hope it doesn’t get worse, and I pray my roommates recover quickly, too.
Thanks for reading.
Posted Using INLEO
