Malaria Disorder

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QUESTION

what is the malaria disorder?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito.

Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. Symptoms usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.

How is Malaria Spread?

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QUESTION

How is malaria spread?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten.

Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery (“congenital” malaria).


Causes of Malaria

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QUESTION

What are the causes of malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito.

Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten.

Following the infective bite by the Anopheles mosquito, a period of time (the “incubation period”) goes by before the first symptoms appear. The incubation period in most cases varies from 7 to 30 days. The shorter periods are observed most frequently with P. falciparum and the longer ones with P. malariae.

Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery (“congenital” malaria).


Malaria Deaths in the Tropics

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QUESTION

What’s the difference of malaria deaths between the subtropical and tropical regions and all the other regions?

ANSWER

I am assuming you are asking about the distribution of deaths caused by malaria between the tropics/sub-tropics and the rest of the world.

95% percent of all fatal malaria cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa, which lies entirely in the sub-tropics and tropics. Additionally, most of the deaths occur in Central, West and Eastern Africa (North Africa and South Africa have more advanced malaria prevention and control initiatives to the rest of the continent, and transmission is also less severe), and the other 5% of malaria deaths are mostly found in India and south-east Asia, so you could say that virtually all deaths due to malaria occur in tropical regions alone.

Indeed, there is almost no malaria in non-tropical or sub-tropical regions; the few cases each year in North America and Europe are usually due to imported cases from people who have traveled to tropical or sub-tropical regions.

How to get malaria?

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QUESTION

How do we get malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten.

Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery (“congenital” malaria).

Causes of Malaria

by

QUESTION

What causes malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.

Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About 1 week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the person being bitten.

Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, or the shared use of needles or syringes contaminated with blood. Malaria may also be transmitted from a mother to her unborn infant before or during delivery (“congenital” malaria).

 


 

Malaria Mosquito

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QUESTION

Which mosquito causes malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria mosquito vector map CDC

Map of the main global mosquito vectors of malaria (image courtesy of CDC)

It is important to note that mosquitoes do not CAUSE malaria—the disease itself is caused by microscopic, single-celled animals called Plasmodium. These Plasmodium parasites live and reproduce inside the mosquito, and when the mosquito bites a person, the parasites are transferred into that person’s blood via the mosquito’s saliva. If another mosquito bites a person with malaria, they will pick up the parasites from the person’s blood, and the cycle continues.

Malaria parasites are simply transmitted by mosquitoes, and specifically of the genus Anopheles, of which a variety of different species are capable of transmitting it to humans. In Africa, the species most responsible for transmission is An. gambiae, which actually consists of a group of very similar and closely related species; the group as a whole is known as the An. gambiae species complex. An. funestus is also a wide-spread and important vector species in Africa. Below is a map, courtesy of the CDC, which shows the distribution of some of the main malaria vector mosquitoes worldwide.

Where does malaria come from?

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QUESTION

Where does malaria normally come from?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by single-celled parasites of the genus Plasmodium; the parasites enter the human body via the bite of an infected mosquito. However, the mosquito has to pick up the infection in the first place from another infected human; so in a sense, you could say that malaria both comes from mosquitoes, as well as from other people, although only indirectly!

More generally, your question could be read as asking where does malaria come from geographically—malaria is actually distributed over most of the world, and at some point or another has been found on all continents except Antarctica. In modern times, it tends to be restricted to the tropics and sub-tropical regions of the world, since temperature is a key factor pertaining to its survival. However, seasonal transmission (especially in the summer, hotter months) still persists even in some temperate regions. Moreover, with global climate change, it is feared that the distribution of malaria will continue to spread, and even more people will be affected.

Malaria and Sexual Contact

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QUESTION

Is a person with malaria allowed sexual contact or not?

ANSWER

Malaria cannot be transmitted between people through sexual contact (or indeed, between people at all—it must go through a mosquito before it can pass into another human host), so from the point of view of spreading the disease, sexual activity is not disallowed. However, people with malaria often feel very sick, and moreover, will need their full strength to ensure recovery, so it might not be a bad idea to refrain until the patient is fully recovered!

Malaria Month

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QUESTION

What is the national month for malaria?

ANSWER

I’m not exactly sure I understand your question. If you are asking if there is a specific month when malaria is the worst, that depends on where you are. Malaria transmission is highly seasonal, because the mosquitoes that transmit the disease require pools of standing water in order to reproduce. Therefore in many places, transmission is highest during the rainy or wet season.

However, if you mean if there is a specific month dedicated to raising awareness about malaria and control, then the answer is yes, at least for certain countries. India, for example, has declared each June between 2005 and 2012 to be “Anti-malaria Month,” when a big push is made nation-wide to educate people about preventing malaria, implement early diagnosis and treatment and organise vector control efforts. June was selected as it is the month before the start of the monsoon season, when malaria transmission increases due to the heavy rains.