About Malaria Proteins

by

QUESTION

Please tell about about malarial causitive proteins.

ANSWER

I’m not sure what your question is, as malaria is not caused by a protein, but rather by a single-celled parasite called Plasmodium, which contains many different types of proteins. Some of these are indeed used for entering host cells and thus causing disease. Many of these proteins, and particularly ones on the surface of the malaria parasite, induce the host’s immune system, and so are called antigens. One of the most well known malaria antigens is called the Duffy antigen, and it is found on two types of malaria (Plasmodium knowlesi and Plasmodium vivax). It is used by the parasite to invade host red blood cells, and it is interesting because many populations of people in Africa have genetic changes in the parts of the red blood cell which the Duffy antigen binds to. This means these people, called Duffy negative, are much less susceptible to these types of malaria than people who are so-called Duffy positive and have normal red blood cells.

Malaria Origins

by

QUESTION

What is the origin of malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a single-celled parasite of the genus Plasmodium. There are five difference species of Plasmodium which infect humans – these all likely evolved from various different species of Plasmodium which infect other primates, such as gorillas (for P. falciparum) and macaques (P. vivax, P. knowlesi, possibly other types as well). This happened many thousands of years ago; humans have been plagued by malaria since before records began. In fact, the first recorded mention of the symptoms of malaria come from ancient China, in a manuscript dated to 2700 years before the common era, or almost 5000 years ago.

However, understanding that malaria was caused by a microscopic parasite, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, occurred much more recently; the Plasmodium parasite was first observed in the blood of a person who died from malaria in 1880 by the French physician Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran. A few years later, in 1897/1898, a British physician, Ronald Ross, demonstrated that the parasite could be transmitted between hosts via the bite of an infected mosquito. Both physicians eventually won Nobel Prizes for their work.

How Long Does it Take for Malaria to Affect the Body?

by

QUESTION

How long does malaria take to actually affect you?

ANSWER

When you are bitten by a mosquito that is infected with the parasites that cause malaria, some of the parasites enter your blood stream in the mosquito’s saliva. After that, it will take at least one week, and usually between two and four weeks, before you start to feel the symptoms of the disease. This is because the parasite first goes to the liver, where it infects liver cells and undergoes replication. These cells mature into a form called merozoites, which then re-enter the blood stream, and start to infect red blood cells. The stage in the liver is not symptomatic for the patient, and is known as the pre-patent stage; once the merozoites start infecting and killing red blood cells, the patient will begin to feel sick, and the infection is said to have become patent.

Scientific Name of Malaria

by

QUESTION

what is the scientific name of malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused by a single celled parasite of the genus Plasmodium. Five species infect humans, and their scientific names are Plasmodium falciparum (the most severe and deadly kind), P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. knowlesi.

What is Malaria?

by

QUESTION

What is malaria?

What is the parasite that causes malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite, of the genus Plasmodium, that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito (of the genus Anopheles) which feeds on humans. People who get malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. Four kinds of malaria parasites can infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. knowlesi and P. malariae. Infection with P. falciparum, if not promptly treated, may lead to death. Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can usually be prevented.

Malaria Explained

by

QUESTION

What is malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite, of the genus Plasmodium, that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito (of the genus Anopheles) which feeds on humans. People who get malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. Four kinds of malaria parasites can infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. Infection with P. falciparum, if not promptly treated, may lead to death. Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can usually be prevented.

What Causes Malaria

by

QUESTION

What are the causes of malaria?

ANSWER

Malaria is caused  by infection with certain single-celled parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Specifically, there are five species which infect humans: P. falciparum (the most severe and dangerous form of malaria), P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. knowlesi.

The symptoms of the disease occur when the parasite enters the blood stream (after a brief 1-3 week period of development in the liver) and begins to enter red blood cells, reproduce inside them, and then burst out, destroying the cell. The debris caused by this bursting, as well as various other aspects of the process, cause the body to mount an intense immune reaction which results in high fever, chills, aches and nausea. For P. falciparum infection, the infection is particularly severe because the parasite causes red blood cells it infects to stick inside the small blood vessels that lead to major organs, reducing blood flow and causing oxygen deprivation. When this occurs in the blood vessels in the brain, the result is impaired consciousness, unconsciousness, coma and even death – hallmarks of what is known as “cerebral malaria,” which is implicated in many of the deaths related to malaria each year.

What year was the cause of malaria discovered?

by

QUESTION

When did they find out that a bug bite caused malaria, and what year was that?

ANSWER

In 1880, Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran observed that malaria was caused by a parasite in the blood; it wasn’t until 1897-1898 that Ronald Ross, a British Army medical doctor, discovered that the parasite could be transmitted between hosts (he used birds for his experiments) by mosquitoes.

How Long Does it Take to Feel Ill from Malaria?

by

QUESTION

How soon does a person usually to feel ill after malaria infection?

ANSWER

After being bitten by an infected mosquito, there is an “incubation period” before the person begins to suffer from symptoms of malaria. This time corresponds to the period the malaria parasite spends in the liver; it is once it enters the blood and begins to destroy red blood cells that initiate the onset of symptoms. The length of the incubation depends on a number of factors, including the type of malaria and whether the person has been taking anti-malarial preventative medication (prophylaxis), but the usual length of time is between 1-4 weeks.