Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Infection with one type of malaria , P. falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death. 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. When these parasites come out of hibernation and begin invading red blood cells, the person will become sick.
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. Persons living in, and travelers to, any area of the world where malaria is transmitted may become infected. Malaria can be cured with prescription drugs .