QUESTION

Can malaria be passed between humans if one has a bloody nose or if sex tears the vagina and a small bleed occurs?

ANSWER

It is extremely unlikely malaria would be transmitted via transfer of small amounts of blood. The only documented examples of direct transmission of malaria between humans is during blood transfusion, organ donation and from a mother to her unborn child, all of which require transfer of very large volumes of blood or the transfer of a specific organ containing malaria parasites. In the case of a mother transmitting malaria to her child, it either occurs across the placenta (again, via blood) or via the large amounts of blood which can be exposed during childbirth.