About the disease
Malaria is a blood infection, which is transmitted by parasites through bites. The mosquitos are usually transmitters of this disease. After mosquito bites a person, parasites multiply in the liver of the person. Afterwards, they affect and damage the red blood cells. According to Medical News Today, only in 2013 there were approximately 198 million cases of malaria recorded worldwide. Of these 198 millions cases approximately 584, 000 people have died. This disease is the most widespread infection in developing countries, where malaria vaccine has not been implemented into use and medical facilities are not developed well enough. It is also most common in tropical countries where there are big growths of mosquitos. Moreover, over 3.4 billion people worldwide are in the risk of developing malaria during their lifetime, that's why many researchers worldwide are fighting for the vaccination in all countries and making it mandatory vaccination.
Malaria starts to manifest itself 5-14 days after the infected mosquito has bitten the person. During this time the parasite multiply in the liver before entering the bloodstream, while a person does not experience any symptoms. After that parasites enter the bloodstream and start to affect red blood cells. First symptoms of malaria are a lot flu-like. If not treated on time, these symptoms can become very severe and life-threatening. These disease tends to be cyclic and can be recurrent if there were old parasites left in the liver, which started to multiply later after the first attack ended.
Symptoms
- Shiver
- Cold
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Sweats
- Hot flashes
- Respiratory problems
Diagnosis
- RDT, which stand for rapid diagnostic test, is the most commonly used test for determining if a person has malaria. RDT primarily determines if a person has parasites in his/her blood stream. This test allows to say if a person has malaria in a matter of 20 minutes.
- Blood test is also used to examine red blood cells and determine if they are affected.
Treatment
- Conservative treatment is indicated for all people with malaria, even the asymptomatic ones. Doctors usually use Artemisinin, which is a drug that can reduce amount of parasites in the bloodstream. Usually Artemisinin is able to drastically reduce the amount of parasites in the bloodstream during the first 3 days. If there are any parasites left, doctors use similar drugs to eliminate the infection.
- Nonetheless, it's better to prevent the disease than to have it. For this reason, people living in tropical and subtropical areas and in areas where there is a big number of infected people, are usually adviced to have vaccination.
Authors: Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova, Dr. Farrukh Ahmed
