Malaria at a glance
Malaria is an infectious disease. It is caused by a unicellular parasite of the genus Plasmodium. There are four types of Plasmodium capable of infecting human beings. Plasmodium falciparum, the most menacing, causes malaria tropica.
Transmission:
The parasites, which are visible under a microscope, are transmitted through the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito, which is its main host. Humans are intermediate hosts. To infect a person the mosquito, which is mainly active in the evening and night, must previously have bitten a person who was carrying the parasite and have been infected by that person. It is an endless cycle: the disease spreads automatically as long as nothing is done to fight the mosquitoes, unless bites are prevented and the disease is treated.
The malaria life cycle:
The life cycle of the pathogenic parasite is complex. Plasmodia multiply in the human body, specifically in the liver, and destroy red blood cells. A week or even a year may go by before symptoms are noticeable. The symptoms are similar to those of the flu, making an accurate diagnosis especially important: fever, headache, aching limbs, fatigue, chills, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. If left undetected or untreated, malaria can quickly become fatal. Children die more often from this disease than adults .
Prevalence
Malaria is still prevalent in tropical and subtropical countries, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Central America and South America.