Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people. This is what this disease is

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Travelers should be alert to any symptoms.

What is malaria and where does it come from

Malaria is an infectious disease that causes poor health, fever, and intense chills. Infection is caused by single-celled parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which have entered the bloodstream.

The word itself comes from the Italian mala aria - "bad air". Previously, this disease was also called swamp fever due to the fact that people became infected after visiting warm swampy regions. Only in the twentieth century did scientists find out that it was not the bad air of the swamps that was to blame, but the mosquitoes living in such areas.

More precisely, only some species are malaria. When bitten, infected individuals secrete saliva, and parasites enter the human blood with it. But this is not enough for infection.

Conditions are necessary in which unicellular organisms can reproduce rapidly and actively. Favorable for this are areas where there are swamps and a lot of precipitation, and the air temperature is kept at a level not lower than 13-14 ° C.

Therefore, malaria is widespread in the equatorial and subequatorial zones - especially in Africa and Southeast Asia. In Russia, malaria mosquitoes, albeit in smaller numbers, live throughout the European part and in Western Siberia.

Why malaria is dangerous

Even with treatment, malaria can be deadly. Especially if the disease is caused by Plasmodia, common in Africa.

According to WHO, in 2019, 229 million people fell ill with malaria worldwide. 409 thousand of them died.

The cause of death is usually complications. It can be:

• Swelling or damage to the brain is called cerebral malaria.
• Respiratory failure caused by fluid accumulation in the lungs.
• Failure of vital organs. In malaria, the spleen is greatly enlarged, sometimes up to rupture. In addition, the disease often damages the liver and kidneys.
• Anemia. It occurs due to the fact that plasmodia infect red blood cells. Many red blood cells simply die.
• Acute hypoglycemia caused by severe infection and quinine, a drug often given to people with malaria. Sometimes blood sugar levels drop so much that a person falls into a coma and even dies.

To avoid complications, treatment should be started within the first 24 hours after symptoms appear.

So, it is important to know how the disease manifests itself.

What are the symptoms of malaria

The disease always begins suddenly, usually 10-15 days after being bitten by an anopheles mosquito. But in some cases, the incubation period can drag on for up to a year.

In addition to a sharp rise in temperature, chills and general ill health, malaria has other characteristic symptoms:

• headache;
• nausea and vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• abdominal pain;
• muscle and joint pain;
• weakness;
• rapid breathing and heartbeat;
• cough.

It is not necessary that they all arise at the same time. The symptoms of the disease increase over time. In order not to miss the moment, it is necessary to evaluate not only the symptomatology, but also the accompanying factors.

Treating malaria based on symptoms alone is highly undesirable.

If a person is in an area where malaria is common (for example, in African countries), one sharp rise in temperature is already enough to suspect an infection and see a doctor as soon as possible.

How to treat malaria

First of all, the therapist will clarify the diagnosis: he will ask about the state of health and about recent travels. They will also be sure to do blood tests to determine:

• Does it contain malaria parasites?
• What type are they? This is important: some species of unicellular organisms cause particularly rapid and severe illness. In this case, you need to take several powerful drugs at once. And then there are plasmodia that are resistant to traditional drugs.
• What is the state of the body, whether complications have begun.

If malaria is confirmed, the doctor will prescribe medications that can kill the parasites in the blood. These drugs are sold by prescription only. Often these are different drugs based on chloroquine or artemisinin derivatives, if the plasmodia are resistant to the first substance.

The doctor may prescribe other medications if the standard ones do not help. But in some cases, especially when treatment is started late, it may not be effective.

Therefore, it is important not only to seek medical help on time, but also, if possible, do everything possible so as not to get infected.

How not to get malaria

Scientists have long been trying to create a vaccine against malaria. But so far, the drugs are experimental and not approved for general use.

This means that the most effective way to protect yourself from malaria is prevention.

• Try not to visit areas with high levels of malaria risk. A list of such places can be found on the website of the World Health Organization.
• Before traveling to such an area, consult a physician about prevention. Your doctor may prescribe medications for you, usually the same drugs used to treat malaria.
• Avoid mosquito bites while traveling. Wear long-sleeved pants and shirts, use repellents, and sleep under mosquito nets.