Symptoms Symptoms of malaria include fever, shivering, pain in the joints, headache, repeated vomiting, generalized convulsions and coma. If not treated, the disease progresses to severe malaria. Severe malaria is associated with death. Transmission Malaria is transmitted by Anopheline mosquitoes, the number and type of which determine the extent of transmission in a given area. Transmission of malaria is affected by climate and geography, and often coincides with the rainy season.
Communities Affected More than any other disease, malaria hits the poor.
Malaria endemic countries are some of the world's poorest. For the individual, costs include the price of treatment and prevention, and lost income. Rural communities are particularly affected. In rural areas, the rainy season is often a time of intense agricultural activity, when poor families earn most of their annual income. Malaria can make these families even poorer.