by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION
What is malaria and when was it diagnosed?
ANSWER
Malaria is a disease caused by a single-celled parasite of the genus Plasmodium. Five types of malaria infect humans: P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. vivax, P. malariae and P. knowlesi. It was first observed in the blood of a patient who had died of malaria in 1880 by Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, a French physician working in Algeria.
by Malaria Q&A
QUESTION:
Who discovered the malaria disease and when?
ANSWER:
Malaria has been known for thousands of years; there are written accounts of the disease, including a description of its symptoms, in ancient Chinese medical texts from 2700 BCE. The ancient Romans and Greeks also knew about malaria.
However, the causes of the disease were only discovered in the 19th century. In 1880, a French surgeon called Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran stationed in Algeria was the first person to see the parasites that cause malaria in the blood of an infected person. Then, a few years later, in 1897/1898, a British army doctor called Ronald Ross discovered that mosquitoes transmitted the parasites between patients. This allowed for further clarification of the life cycle of malaria, and thus opened up the path for modern malaria research and control.