Malaria – The Disease

Malaria is a blood disease which can be life-threatening. It is caused by parasites which are transmitted to humans through the Anopheles mosquito. Upon the mosquito’s bite and transmission of the parasites into the body, they multiply inside the liver of the patient, infecting and destroying the red blood cells.

The Cause

The female Anopheles mosquito is the only mosquito that causes malaria. These mosquitoes carry the parasite Plasmodium which infects the patient’s body upon their bite. Mostly humid and ambient temperatures result in the development of the parasite within the mosquito.
The parasite enters the bloodstream and can lay dormant in the liver for around 5-16 days without showing any symptoms. It multiplies asexually and is released into the bloodstream to infect the red blood cells. An unaffected Anopheles mosquito can become a carrier if it bites a Malaria patient.

Once this sets in, the patient starts showing clear symptoms of malaria.

Symptoms

The symptoms of malaria can be classified into two categories: uncomplicated and severe malaria

People often confuse between the two, resulting in wrong medication. Hence it is essential to understand the difference between the two.

You can detect uncomplicated malaria through the following symptoms:

• Sensation of cold and shivering
• Fever, headaches and vomiting
• Sweating which return to normal temperatures along with tiredness

Severe malaria shows clear symptoms like:

• Fever and regular chills
• Prostration, i.e. adopting a prone or prayer position
• Impairment in consciousness
• Multiple convulsions
• Abnormal bleeding along with signs of anemia
• Respiratory distress and deep breathing
• Clinical jaundice along with vital organ dysfunction

Testing

Malaria is a deadly disease, making it all the more essential to diagnose it as early as possible. If a patient is showing any signs or symptoms of malaria, they should get themselves checked immediately. There are primarily two ways to do that:

• Parasitological confirmation by microscopy
• Parasitological confirmation by a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT)

As early diagnosis is required, the RDT is the most favoured test. There are other reasons behind that as well. The availability of equipment for the microscopy test is not possible at every remote location.

But at SDC, we have all the latest technology and expert skills to carry out all the tests to accurately find out if you are suffering from Malaria. The quicker the diagnosis, the faster you’ll be able to get yourself treated.

Remedies

The treatment focuses on the Plasmodium parasite from the patient’s blood stream. The Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the most effective way which reduces the number of parasites in the patient effectively.

Generally combined with a partner drug, the artemisinin reduces the number of parasites in the patient within the first three days while rest of them are eliminated by the partner drug in the coming days.