# Malaria

| Malaria |
| --- |
|  |
| Malaria parasite wey dey connect to a red blood cell |
| Specialty | Infectious disease |
| Symptoms | Fever, vomiting, headache, yellow skin |
| Usual onset | 10–15 days post exposure |
| Causes | *Plasmodium* spread by mosquitoes |
| Diagnostic method | Examination of the blood, malaria antigen detection tests |
| Differential diagnosis | Enteric fever, meningitis, Ebola, yellow fever, dengue, Japanese encephalitis |
| Prevention | Mosquito nets, insect repellent, mosquito control, medications |
| Medication | Antimalarial medication |
| Frequency | 241 million (2020) |
| Deaths | 627,000 (2020) |

**Malaria** be a mosquito-borne infectious disease wey dey affect vertebrates den *Anopheles* mosquitoes. Human malaria dey cause symptoms wey typically dey include fever, fatigue, vomiting, den headaches. Insyd severe cases, e fi cause jaundice, seizures, coma, anaa death. Symptoms usually dey begin 10 to 15 days after an infected *Anopheles* mosquito bite person. If dem no treat am properly, people fi get recurrences of de disease months later. Insyd those wey recently dem survive an infection, reinfection usually dey cause milder symptoms. Dis partial resistance dey disappear over months to years if de person no get continue exposure to malaria. De mosquitoes demaselves be harmed by malaria, wey dey cause reduced lifespans insyd those wey be infected by am.

Malaria be caused by single-celled microorganisms of de genus *Plasmodium*. E be spread exclusively thru bites of infected female *Anopheles* mosquitoes. De mosquito bite dey introduce de parasites from de mosquito ein saliva into de blood. De parasites dey travel to de liver, wer dem mature den reproduce. Five species of *Plasmodium* commonly dey infect humans. De three species wey be associated plus more severe cases be *P. falciparum* (wich be responsible for de vast majority of malaria deaths), *P. vivax*, den *P. knowlesi* (a simian malaria wey dey spill over into thousands of people a year). *P. ovale* den *P. malariae* generally dey cause a milder form of malaria. Malaria be typically diagnosed by de microscopic examination of blood wey dey use blood films, anaa plus antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests. Na dem develop methods wey dey use de polymerase chain reaction take detect de parasite ein DNA, buh dem no be widely used insyd areas wer malaria be common, secof dema cost den complexity.

Video summary (script)
De risk of disease fi be reduced by preventing mosquito bites thru de use of mosquito nets den insect repellents anaa plus mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides den draining standing water. Chaw medications be available make dem prevent malaria for travellers insyd areas wer de disease be common. Occasional doses of de combination medication sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine be recommended insyd infants den after de first trimester of pregnancy insyd areas plus high rates of malaria. As of 2023, na dem endorse two malaria vaccines by de World Health Organization. De recommended treatment give malaria be a combination of antimalarial medications wey dey include artemisinin. De second medication either fi be mefloquine (dey note first ein potential toxicity den de possibility of death), lumefantrine, anaa sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine. Quinine, along plus doxycycline, fi be used if artemisinin no be available. Insyd areas wer de disease be common, malaria for be confirmed if possible before dem start treatment secof concerns of increasing drug resistance. Na resistance among de parasites develop to several antimalarial medications; for example, chloroquine-resistant na *P. falciparum* spread to chaw malaria-prone areas, den resistance to artemisinin cam turn a problem insyd sam parts of Southeast Asia.

* Schlagenhauf-Lawlor P (2008). *Travelers' Malaria*. PMPH-USA. ISBN 978-1-55009-336-0.
* Webb JL (2008). *Humanity's Burden*. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511808401. ISBN 978-0-521-67012-8.
* *Guidelines for the treatment of malaria*. World Health Organization. 2015. hdl:10665/162441. ISBN 978-92-4-154912-7.
* *Malaria Eradication: Benefits, Future Scenarios and Feasibility: A Report of the Strategic Advisory Group on Malaria Eradication*. World Health Organization. 2020. hdl:10665/331795. ISBN 978-92-4-000367-5.
* *World Malaria Report 2022*. World Health Organization. 2022. hdl:10665/365169. ISBN 978-92-4-006489-8.

## Read further

* Barber, Marshall Albert (1929). "The history of malaria in the United States". *Public Health Reports*. **44** (43): 2575–87. doi:10.2307/4579430. JSTOR 4579430.
* Harrison, Gordon (1978). *Malaria: Mosquitoes, Malaria and Man. A History of the Hostilities since 1880*. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-16025-6. OCLC 3169237. a major worldwide scholarly survey online
* Jarvis, B. (29 July 2019). "How Mosquitoes Changed Everything". *The New Yorker*. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
* Malpede, Maurizio (2023). "Malaria and economic activity: Evidence from US agriculture". *American Journal of Agricultural Economics*. **105** (5): 1516–42. doi:10.1111/ajae.12363.
* Poser, Charles M.; Bruyn, George W. (1999). *An Illustrated History of Malaria*. Parthenon. ISBN 1-85070-068-0. OCLC 537843745. online review of this book
* Williams, Louis L. (1963). "Malaria Eradication in the United States". *American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health*. **53** (1): 17–21. doi:10.2105/AJPH.53.1.17. PMC 1253858. PMID 14000898.
* "Tightening the handle on malaria". *Nature Methods* (Editorial). **16** (4): 271. April 2019. doi:10.1038/s41592-019-0390-2. PMID 30923375. A day dedicated to raising awareness of the disease is a good opportunity to ask how far malaria research has come and which methods are needed for further breakthroughs.
* WHO (2010). Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria (PDF) (Report) (2nd ed.). World Health Organization. ISBN 978-92-4-154792-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2010.
* Organization WH (2023). *WHO Guidelines for Malaria*. World Health Organization. hdl:10665/373339.

* WHO site on malaria (Archived 2020-05-02 at the Wayback Machine)
* CDC site on malaria (Archived 2021-11-28 at the Wayback Machine)
* PAHO site on malaria (Archived 2021-11-28 at the Wayback Machine)