Definition:
Malaria is a parasitic disease caused by mosquito bites, known as Anopheles Mosquitoes. It is one of the most common vector-borne infectious diseases in most tropical and sub-tropical regions in Asia, Africa, and some parts of Americas.
Diagnosis:
Microscopic examination of blood films is the most reliable and most affordable procedure in diagnosing malaria; essentially because it allows the pathologist to determine the specific parasite specie that caused the malarial infection. Each of this species possesses their own distinguishing characteristics.
Treatment:
Malarial infections are treated with a combination of supportive measures and the administration of specific antimalarial drugs. Malaria infections due to the P. falciparum parasite require immediate hospitalization, other cases caused by other malaria causing parasites can be treated even without necessary hospitalization.
Symptoms and Signs:
The most remarkable symptom of malaria is sudden feeling of coldness followed by rigor and fever and sweating usually lasting for four to six hours; usually occurring in a cyclical pattern. The parasites that causes malaria tend to reproduce within red blood cells; enabling them to produce symptoms like:
* Fever
* Chills
* Nausea
* Flu-like illness
* Shivering
* Joint pain (arthralgia)
* Vomiting
* Lightheadedness
* Shortness of breath
* Anemia due to the release of hemoglobin into the surrounding plasma (caused by breaking open of RBC or hemolysis)
* Increased amounts of hemoglobin present in the urine (hemoglobinuria)
* Convulsions
* Other cases may produce tingling sensation in the skin
Causes:
Malaria is caused by parasites originating from the Plasmodium genus. Most malaria human infections are caused by P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale, and P. vivax.
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