Malaria

1. Malaria Kenneth Morales ,Kevin Paulino ,Nicolas Barina

2. What is exactly Malaria? • Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. People with malaria often experience fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Left untreated, they may develop severe complications and die. In 2008, an estimated 190 - 311 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide and 708,000 - 1,003,000 people died, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

3. Where did it Malaria originate? southwest Asia Malaria has been infecting humans for at least 50,000 years, and may have existed as a pathogen in other species for even longer. For this reason it is impossible to know where the first cases of malaria appeared. While the earliest references to a malaria-like illness come from China, that is by no means an indication that malaria originated in Asia.

4. How is it transmitted? • An infected mosquito bites a human • The malaria parasite enters the human and within 30 minutes infects the liver • Infection develops in red blood cells, which burst infecting other blood cells. During this phase the person becomes dangerously ill with fevers and becomes anemic • Another mosquito feeds on the infected human’s blood and the malaria parasite enters the mosquito • The malaria parasite undergoes changes in the mosquito’s gut ready to infect the next person bitten

5. Who is most likely to acquire Malaria? • Pregnant women are twice as likely to get bitten by mosquitoes and so run twice the risk of contracting malaria, scientists have found.

6. How quickly does Malaria spread? • A person gets malaria from the bite of an infected female mosquito. The mosquito bite injects young forms of the malaria parasite into the person's blood. The parasites travel through the person's bloodstream to the liver, where they grow to their next stage of development. In 6 to 9 days, the parasites leave the liver and enter the bloodstream again. They invade the red blood cells, finish growing, and begin to multiply quickly. The number of parasites increases until the red blood cells burst, releasing thousands of parasites into the person's bloodstream. The parasites attack other red blood cells, and the cycle of infection continues, causing the common signs and symptoms of malaria. • When a non-infected mosquito bites an infected person, the mosquito sucks up parasites from the person's blood. The mosquito is then infected with the malaria parasites. The parasites go through several stages of growth in the mosquito. When the mosquito bites someone else, that person will become infected with malaria parasites, and the cycle will begin again. • Malaria parasites can also be transmitted by transfusion of blood from an infected person or by the use of needles or syringes contaminated with the blood of an infected person.

7. What are the symptom for Malaria? • People with malaria typically have cycles of chills, fever, and sweating that recur every 1, 2, or 3 days. The attack of the malaria parasites on the person's red blood cells makes the person's temperature rise and the person feel hot. The subsequent bursting of red blood cells makes the person feel cold and have hard, shaking chills. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea often go along with the fever. The destruction of red blood cells can also cause jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes) and anemia.

8. Is There a vaccine or other way to prevent it? • Although there is promising research in the area, there are no effective vaccinations on the market for malaria. You can however take medications if you're going into an area of the world that you know has high malaria infection rates.

9. Specific medications that can be used as a cure include: Chloroquine Mefloquine (Lariam) Atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone) Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (Fansidar) Quinine Doxycycline Artemisin derivatives (not licensed for use in the United States, but often found overseas). Is there a cure for it?