Malariology
| Malaria | |
|---|---|
 |
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| A Plasmodium from the saliva of a female mosquito moving across a mosquito cell | |
| Specialty | Infectious disease |
| Symptoms | Fever, vomiting, headache |
| Usual onset | 10–15 days post exposure |
| Causes | Plasmodium spread by mosquitos |
| Diagnostic method | Examination of the blood, antigen detection tests |
| Prevention | Mosquito nets, insect repellent, mosquito control, medications |
| Medication | Antimalarial medication |
| Frequency | 296 million (2015) |
| Deaths | 730,500 (2015) |
| Classification | |
|---|---|
| External resources |
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease affecting humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans (a group of single-celled microorganisms) belonging to the Plasmodium type. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, feeling tired, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.
The disease is most commonly transmitted by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito's saliva into a person's blood. The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce. Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be spread by humans. Most deaths are caused by P. falciparum because P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae generally cause a milder form of malaria. The species P. knowlesi rarely causes disease in humans. Malaria is typically diagnosed by the microscopic examination of blood using blood films, or with antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests. Methods that use the polymerase chain reaction to detect the parasite's DNA have been developed, but are not widely used in areas where malaria is common due to their cost and complexity.
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