by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
SYMPTOMS OF MALARIA?
ANSWER:
The 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. Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
Why is it that people die of malaria?
ANSWER:
The symptoms of malaria are caused by the malaria parasite reproducing inside the patient’s red blood cells and eventually destroying them. In this process, the malaria parasites also produce toxic waste chemicals and debris which build up in the patient’s blood stream. The body produces a strong immune response as a reaction to these toxic products and debris; most of the systemic symptoms associated with malaria, such as fever, aching muscles and joints and nausea, are related to this immune response. Infected red blood cells can also build up in internal organs, notably the spleen and the liver, causing them to swell.
Despite these nasty-sounding effects, most cases of malaria are relatively benign and don’t lead to death. However, in some cases, the manifestation of the disease can become more severe. Most commonly, this occurs when a patient is infected with Plasmodium falciparum, one of the four main kinds of malaria that infect humans, and by far the most severe. P. falciparum reproduces very rapidly in the human host, causing extremely high fever and a fast onset of symptoms. It also changes the structure of the red blood cells it infects, causing them to become “stuck” deep within tiny blood vessels and especially in major organs such as the brain, intestines, liver, heart and lungs. Stuck within these blood vessels, the infected red blood cells are effectively hidden from the immune system and are not cleared from the body via the spleen. This allows the malaria parasite’s reproduction to go unchecked, resulting in very high numbers of the parasite in the patient’s blood.
If left untreated, the build-up of infected red blood cells can result in severe anaemia, reduced local oxygen flow and the blocking of the immune reaction; the exact mechanisms are not fully understood. When these processes occur in the brain, the result is so-called “cerebral malaria”, characterised by impaired consciousness, and which can lead to convulsions, coma and death. Even if a patient recovers from the disease episode, they may be left with permanent neurological damage. Luckily, malarial comas are often rapidly reversed after treatment is administered, and in many cases, neurological damage is not permanent.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
Patient having malaria. Taking chloroquine. Then temp becomes normal but headache occurred. What to do?
ANSWER:
One of our collaborating medical doctors kindly assisted in answering this question. She suggests more clinical information is required; what type of malaria is the chloroquine being used for, for example? Also, the headache should not be from the drug, suggesting there is another cause which should be investigated.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
What are the symptoms?
ANSWER:
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.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
What is pf and pv?
ANSWER:
“Pf” stands for Plasmodium falciparum and “Pv” stands for Plasmodium vivax. These are two different species of the parasite that causes malaria in humans. Pf causes the most acute, severe form of the disease, which can have a cerebral manifestation (“cerebral malaria”) and causes the most deaths worldwide. Pv is still a serious disease, but usually less severe. If diagnosed early, both forms are easily treated and completely curable.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
My dad was infected with malaria,and his blood platelets were depleted to 35000. He was immediately admitted to hospital. Now after 5 days of being admitted, he is getting high fever around 102 degrees every morning and evening. His blood platelets have increased to 3lac and all other reports are normal. According to the doctor, the malaria is cured, but they are not able to detect the reason for periodical high fever…is such fever common after malaria? What might be the reason? Please help.
ANSWER:
One of our collaborating medical doctors has kindly assisted in providing this answer. Fever can be from co-infection with a second strain/type of malaria, or from the drug being used to treat the malaria. If his platelets were that low, then the likely type of malaria causing the infection would be Plasmodium falciparum, or a particularly heavy P. vivax burden, or infection with both. If he was/is in the hospital, other causes for fever could also be the IV line/another drug being given, complications such as pneumonia from being at bedrest or so ill, cholecystitis from not eating due to illness, DVT or blood clots in legs from immobility….there are many possibilities. More information would be needed to distinguish between these options.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
What pathogenic organism causes the disease?
ANSWER:
Malaria is caused by single-celled organisms, called protozoans, of the genus Plasmodium. Different forms of malaria are caused by different species of Plasmodium. The most severe and deadly form is caused by P. falciparum, which is responsible for 90% of the global deaths from malaria, the majority of these in Africa, and mostly in young children. Other species of Plasmodium which commonly infect humans include P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae. Recently, a fifth form, P. knowlesi, has been found infecting rural communities in south-east Asia.
The disease is caused when the parasite enters the patient’s red blood cells, reproduces rapidly and then bursts out of the cell, destroying it in the process. The resultant immune response, combined with the chemicals and debris produced by theparasites, induces the fever, nausea, aches and other symptoms of a malaria infection.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
My sister has been suffering from malaria for three months. She consulted with doctor in the first symptom of malaria but doctor gave only fever medicine at that time. Blood test was not done at that time. So my question is: “within how many days or months malaria patient has to immediately take medicine?”
ANSWER:
One of our collaborating medical doctors has assisting in providing this answer:
It depends on the type of malaria….with Plasmodium vivax infection she could have a low burden due to concurrent treatment or recent prophylaxis which is breaking through because of low grade resistance. Alternatively, it could be P. malariae or P. ovale, both of which sometimes cause only mild disease that may or may not progress. P. falciparum shouldn’t act this way; it is usually a much more severe, aggressive infection. Another option is that she might not have malaria at all. She needs qualitative and quantitative smears to confirm the diagnosis, together with a comprehensive travel/exposure history to support any clinical suspicions.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
Will malaria cause severe stomach pain?
ANSWER:
In some cases, yes, malaria can cause stomach cramps and pain. It also often causes nausea and vomiting. It is important to seek medical attention if you think you have symptoms of malaria; a quick and accurate diagnosis will lead to effective and efficient treatment, which improves chances of a rapid recovery.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
I’ve been infected with malaria vivax, for this i’ve taken the treatment for three days, after three days i don’t have any symptoms but after two days again I’m feeling the fever and abdominal pain which i’m having since the diagnosis is still persisting. Why is it happening? Are there any chances even after treatment for re-occurrence? My urine is yellow color but there is no jaundice?
ANSWER:
“Vivax” malaria, caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax, is known for cyclical fevers every couple of days. As such, it may be that while the medication is working, you are still experiencing some mild symptoms as the infection is not completely cleared. For this reason, it is very important to take the full course of medication prescribed to you by your doctor; DO NOT stop taking it as soon as you feel better, as you might not have killed all of the malaria parasites in your blood, putting yourself at risk for the infection to persist. Alternatively, it might be that the strain of P. vivax you have is not responding to the medication you have been given; in parts of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, for example, the local strains of P. vivax have been shown to have high levels of chloroquine resistance, which is usually used for treating P. vivax. If you are located in an area of known P. vivax resistance to chloroquine, your doctor should be able to recommend a different regimen of treatment to ensure that the infection is cured thoroughly. You should take a blood test after completing treatment to be sure that the parasite is no longer in your blood stream. In addition, P. vivax can produce dormant liver stages called hypnozoites that can remain within the liver hepatocyte cells and cause relapse or recurrence of the disease many weeks or months after the initial infection. To destroy these liver stages, and thus prevent relapse, you should ask your doctor about taking another drug once you have completed your initial treatment. This second drug is called primaquine, and will kill the P. vivax hepatocytes.