Malaria

• Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite that infects the red blood cells.
• Of the 4 types of malaria, the most serious type is falciparum malaria, which can be life-threatening.
• There are 3 other types of malaria (vivax, malariae, and ovale), which are generally less serious and are not life-threatening
• malaria is transmitted to people by mosquitos
  • the particular type of mosquito is Anopheles
    • An infected Anopheles mosquito bites a person and injects the malaria parasites into the blood.
    • The malaria parasites then travel through the bloodstream to the liver and eventually infect the red blood cells
• Malaria is a particular problem and a major one in areas of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Unless precautions are taken, anyone living in or traveling to a country where malaria is present can get the disease.
• The period between the mosquito bite and the onset of the malarial illness (incubation period) is usually 1-3 weeks. However, the incubation period may be longer when a person has taken an inadequate course of malaria prevention medications. Certain types of malaria parasites can as long as 8 to 10 months to cause symptoms.

Symptoms:

• fever
• chills
• muscle aches
• headache
• Cycles of chills, fever, and sweating that recur every 1, 2, or 3 days are typical.
• There can sometimes be vomiting, diarrhea, coughing and yellowing (jaundice) of the skin and whites of the eyes.
• Persons with severe falciparum malaria may develop bleeding problems, shock, kidney or liver failure, central nervous system problems, coma, and die.
  

Treatment:

• The treatment for malaria depends upon the geographic area where a person has been infected with the disease. Different areas of the world have malaria types that are resistant to certain medications.
• Since people infected with falciparum malaria can die (often because of delayed treatment), immediate treatment for falciparum malaria is critical.