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About Malaria
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malaria
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WHO malaria fact sheet symptoms prevention treatment
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https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a potentially life-threatening infection caused by Plasmodium parasites and usually transmitted through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. It is most common in tropical and subtropical regions.
Main species
- P. falciparum - causes most severe disease and deaths.
- P. vivax - can remain dormant in the liver and cause relapses.
- P. ovale - may also relapse.
- P. malariae
- P. knowlesi - acquired from macaques in parts of Southeast Asia.
Symptoms
Symptoms often begin about 10-15 days after an infective mosquito bite, but timing varies. Common features include:
- Fever
- Chills or shaking
- Sweating
- Headache
- Body aches and fatigue
- Nausea or vomiting
A classical attack can progress from chills, to high fever, to heavy sweating. P. falciparum can produce severe illness because infected red cells obstruct small blood vessels. Textbook of Family Medicine 9e, malaria section.
Danger signs: seek urgent care
Emergency assessment is needed for fever after travel to a malaria-risk area, especially with:
- Confusion, drowsiness, seizures, or coma
- Difficulty breathing
- Very weak condition or inability to drink
- Dark or bloody urine
- Jaundice
- Abnormal bleeding
Severe malaria can cause cerebral malaria, anemia, kidney failure, low blood glucose, and lung edema. WHO malaria fact sheet
Diagnosis
Malaria should be confirmed promptly with:
- Thick and thin blood smear microscopy, which identifies the species and parasite level
- Rapid diagnostic test where microscopy is not immediately available
A fever in a person returning from an endemic region should always raise concern for malaria. Textbook of Family Medicine 9e, malaria section.
Treatment
Treatment depends on the species, severity, country where infection was acquired, pregnancy status, age/weight, and local drug resistance.
- Uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria is generally treated with an artemisinin-based combination therapy.
- Severe malaria needs immediate hospital treatment, usually intravenous artesunate.
- P. vivax and P. ovale require treatment of blood-stage infection and, after appropriate testing, medicine to clear dormant liver forms and prevent relapse.
Do not self-treat a suspected infection. WHO recommends parasite-based testing before treatment whenever possible. WHO treatment guidance
Prevention
- Sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets.
- Use mosquito repellent and protective clothing.
- Reduce mosquito breeding sites around homes.
- Travelers to risk areas may need preventive antimalarial medicine selected according to destination and personal factors.
- In some African regions with moderate to high P. falciparum transmission, childhood vaccines RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M are used alongside nets and other prevention measures. WHO vaccine information
If this is about you or someone with fever after travel, obtain urgent medical evaluation today.
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