What is malaria? What are Causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of malaria?

Malaria is a serious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to humans by the female Anopheles mosquito. Infection by the parasite is most commonly transmitted to people through bites from infected female mosquitoes.

Malaria occurs primarily in tropical regions and is the leading cause of death from infectious disease in the developing world.

Symptoms

The most important signs of malaria are fever, chills, fatigue, headache and rash. Malaria also makes you very tired and dizzy and can reduce your mobility.

Malaria infection may be asymptomatic (you may not know you have the disease), or you may experience a mild fever and some flu-like symptoms. Severe complications can include multiple organ failure and death.

Who is at risk?

Malaria is common in countries where malaria transmission occurs, and is a major cause of illness and death. If you live in one of the countries or regions that currently have endemic malaria, you are at risk of developing the disease.

Malaria is not exclusive to Africa, and most countries are at risk of having malaria-carrying mosquitoes. In fact, around 70 percent of the world's population is at risk of malaria infection.

People in Africa who travel to areas of high transmission (for example, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and some South American countries) are at risk of becoming infected.

Malaria transmission, particularly in areas of high transmission, has declined in most countries, but it continues to be a major problem in some regions of the world.

Diagnosis

The standard test is to look for malaria parasites. However, in some cases, an alternative blood test can be used. A blood test can be used to diagnose malaria. However, in some cases, an alternative blood test can be used.

A doctor may diagnose malaria based on the symptoms a person has. The doctor will use other signs and symptoms, including fever, chills, and shortness of breath, to help them identify the cause of the illness.

In cases where a doctor suspects that malaria may have been caused by ACT treatment, they may recommend that the person stops taking the ACTs. If this is not possible, or if symptoms remain, the doctor may recommend that the person is treated with other medicines.

However, in some cases, the doctor may recommend other tests. These include:

taking a blood test, or blood and urine tests

sampling of cells under a microscope

herbal tests

tissue samples

The different tests can help the doctor rule out other potential causes of the illness.

If the doctor does not rule out malaria, they may recommend that a person takes quinine tablets for 48 hours. They may also refer the person to a specialist who can give a more accurate diagnosis.

Possible treatment options

There is no single malaria treatment that works for everyone. Treatment is given to treat symptoms, prevent further transmission and prevent death.

Treating malaria usually involves a combination of drugs. Once diagnosed, you will probably receive one of the following medications:

i. artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs)

ii. chloroquine

iii. chlorimide

iv. quinine

vi. mefloquine

vii. albendazole

People who have recovered from malaria may choose to take only one or two of the available drugs. However, recent research suggests that taking ARTs may increase the risk of malaria relapse.

The best way to reduce the risk of disease is to reduce the number of people that mosquitoes can bite and transmit the disease to. When people avoid areas of high transmission, they will also reduce their risk of getting malaria.

A limitation of using ACTs is that they do not protect against the last stage of malaria transmission, and there is a potential for recurrence in patients who take ARTs. These two factors may be driving the reported increase in malaria infections. This problem is more likely to occur in high-transmission areas where transmission is the highest.

Some studies show that all of the anti-malarials are equally good at treating malaria in most people, but there is a concern that they could be inferior at treating the malaria strain of infection in more severely ill patients.

Most studies have been done in children and in some cultures, malaria is considered a children's disease. Because people of different ages may be more or less likely to get malaria, it's difficult to make recommendations about which treatment option to use for a specific age group.

Some studies show that quinine is less likely to cause more severe malaria disease than quinine and chloroquine (combination therapies).

Dosage and side effects

For the ACTs, each tablet should be taken with plenty of water. Those who are very thirsty may need to drink more water than usual, and care should be taken to drink enough water during the day (for example, while at work or exercising).

In some people, malaria can cause a severe headache or seizures. These side effects are common, but do not typically occur if all malaria treatment is stopped and no other medicine is given. If these occur, a person should call a doctor or go to the hospital.

For those who need to take the ACTs with food, they may experience nausea and vomiting. This is more likely to occur in those who are vomiting with malaria. However, these side effects can occur at any time after taking a pill.

If symptoms persist or worsen, see a doctor or go to the emergency department.

Pregnant women with malaria need extra care. They can be treated with quinine.

Adults should be treated with quinine in the same way as children. If symptoms persist, malaria is still suspected, go to the doctor or hospital immediately.

Treating malaria in the hospital

After taking the ACTs, the person should wait until their blood tests show that the malaria is under control. If this does not happen, a person may need to take a few days to see if the symptoms return.

If the person is under 20 years old, they should also be treated with oral artemisinin tablets. The person should take these with plenty of water. If these tablets do not work for a week, it's likely that they have been misused or someone else may have already taken the tablets. If this is the case, the person may need to use quinine.

If a person needs to treat with a combination therapy, they should stop the other drugs and then take the ACTs with quinine for 48 hours. The ACTs and quinine should be taken for 7 days before the next treatment.

After 24 hours after taking the ACTs, the person can stop taking quinine and ACTs.

If this does not work, or if the symptoms return, a person should talk to their doctor or go to the emergency department.

When to see a doctor?

Anyone who thinks they have malaria should talk to a doctor.

People should not try to self-medicate because they may be more likely to miss the symptoms and they could make their symptoms worse.