MALARIA

Malaria

Malaria

Introduction

Malaria is a blood infection which travels from one individual to another through a mosquito. Many people around the world get infected by malaria each year, in which majority of the infected people die due to lack of proper medical care. According to online dictionary, Malaria is defined as

“An intermittent and remittent fever caused by a protozoan parasite that invades the red blood cells. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes in many tropical and subtropical regions.”

This disease is found in almost every country except in many of the northern part of the world. Even though, America is a malaria free country, there are still many cases of malaria reported there. Majority of these infected individuals gets infected by malaria overseas.

Risk Factors

An infected Anopheles mosquito carries a parasite which is transmitted to a human being by biting them. The sporozoite parasites in the human beings, travels in the liver and there, they release merozoites. Theses merozoites enter the bloodstreams and infect the red blood cells. In the cells, the parasite multiplies and ruptures within 48 to 72 hours all the while infecting even more of the red blood cells. The initial symptoms are commonly mistaken for other infections and are difficult to diagnose.

After the infection, the symptoms start showing within 10 to 20 days. However, in some cases, the symptoms can appear within 8days or in some cases can take as long as a year. These symptoms are caused by the merozoite massive release in bloodstreams as well as by the anemia which results from the red blood cells' destructions and the problem which is caused when the red blood cells ruptures and release a large amount of hemoglobin.

The unborn baby can also get infected by malaria as it can transmit from the mother's blood to the baby. Mosquitoes can carry the malaria parasites in moderate climates; however, the parasites disappear in winter. Falciparum malaria is one of the four diverse malaria types which affect larger proportions of the red blood cells as compared with the other type and is graver. It can be deadly within a few hours of the appearance of the first symptoms.

Epidemiology of the Condition

Malaria causes about 400-900 million cases of fever and approximately 2-3 million deaths annually, representing one death every 15 seconds. The vast majority of cases occur in children under 5 years pregnant women are also particularly vulnerable. Despite efforts to reduce transmission and increase treatment, there has been little change in the areas that are at risk of the disease since 1992. In fact, the prevalence of malaria continues its course of continual increase; the mortality rate may double over the next twenty years. The statistics are accurate unknown because many cases occur in rural areas where people lack access to resources to ensure hospitals or health care. As a result, most cases remain undocumented.

Malaria occurs in most tropical countries. In Africa, the islands of New Guinea and Haiti predominant Plasmodium Falciparum, in Central America and the Indian subcontinent - Plasmodium ...