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What
is malaria
Malaria
is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease caused by a parasite. There are
four kinds of malaria that can infect .
Where
does malaria occur
Malaria
occurs in over 100 countries and territories. More than 40% of the people
in the world are at risk. Large areas of Central and South America,
Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Africa, the Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania are considered
malaria-risk areas (an area of the world that has malaria).
How
common is malaria.
The
World Health Organization estimates that yearly 300-500 million cases of
malaria occur and more than 1 million people die of malaria. About 1,200
cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year. Most cases
in the United States are in immigrants and travelers returning from
malaria-risk areas, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian
subcontinent.
How
do you get malaria
Humans
get malaria from the bite of a malaria-infected mosquito. When a mosquito
bites an infected person, it ingests microscopic malaria parasites found
in the person’s blood. The malaria parasite must grow in the mosquito
for a week or more before infection can be passed to another person. If,
after a week, the mosquito then bites another person, the parasites go
from the mosquito’s mouth into the person’s blood. The parasites then
travel to the person’s liver, enter the liver’s cells, grow and
multiply. During this time when the parasites are in the liver, the person
has not yet felt sick. The parasites leave the liver and enter red blood
cells; this may take as little as 8 days or as many as several months.
Once inside the red blood cells, the parasites grow and multiply. The red
blood cells burst, freeing the parasites to attack other red blood cells.
Toxins from the parasite are also released into the blood, making the
person feel sick. If a mosquito bites this person while the parasites are
in his or her blood, it will ingest the tiny parasites. After a week or
more, the mosquito can infect another person.
Each
year in the United States, a few cases of malaria result from blood
transfusions, are passed from mother to fetus during pregnancy, or are
transmitted by locally infected mosquitoes.
What
are the signs and symptoms of malaria.
Symptoms
of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills,
headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may
also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the
skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. Infection with one
type of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, if not promptly treated,
may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.
How
soon will a person feel sick after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
For
most people, symptoms begin 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, although a
person may feel ill as early as 8 days or up to 1 year later. Two kinds of
malaria, P. vivax and P. ovale, can relapse; some parasites
can rest in the liver for several months up to 4 years after a person is
bitten by an infected mosquito . When these parasites come out of
hibernation and begin invading red blood cells, the person will become
sick.
How
is malaria diagnosed.
Malaria
is diagnosed by looking for the parasites in a drop of blood. Blood will
be put onto a microscope slide and stained so that the parasites will be
visible under a microscope.
Any
traveler who becomes ill with a fever or flu-like illness while traveling
and up to 1 year after returning home should immediately seek professional
medical care. You should tell your health care provider that you have been
traveling in a malaria-risk area.
Who
is at risk for malaria.
Persons
living in, and travelers to, any area of the world where malaria is
transmitted may become infected.
What
is the treatment for malaria.
Malaria
can be cured with prescription drugs. The type of drugs and length of
treatment depend on which kind of malaria is diagnosed, where the patient
was infected, the age of the patient, and how severely ill the patient was
at start of treatment.
How
can malaria and other travel-related illnesses be prevented.
Visit
your health care provider 4-6 weeks before foreign travel for any
necessary vaccinations and a prescription for an anti malarial drug.
Take
your anti malarial drug exactly on schedule without missing doses.
Prevent
mosquito and other insect bites. Use DEET insect repellent on exposed skin
and flying insect spray in the room where you sleep.
Wear
long pants and long-sleeved shirts, especially from dusk to dawn. This is
the time when mosquitoes that spread malaria bite.
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