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Swamp malaria

Malaria
Malaria.jpg
A Plasmodium from the saliva of a female mosquito moving across a mosquito cell
Specialty Infectious disease
Symptoms Fever, vomiting, headache
Complications Yellow skin, seizures, coma
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)
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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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