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Malaria
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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