When a child comes down with a fever in Congo, it is commonly assumed to be malaria (because of the high incidence of malaria in the country) and is treated by neighborhood nurses with an injection of quinine to the hip muscles. This technique, however, can cause nerve damage and leave the child with a fully or partially paralyzed leg. The child may subsequently require a leg brace in order to walk without falling, or to prevent the leg or foot from becoming deformed. (There are other, safer ways to administer quinine, and other ways to treat malaria, but nurses in Congo have been slow to abandon their traditional preference for quinine injections.)

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