Symptoms Of Malaria, Causes And Diagnosis

The malarial parasite is transferred via the bite of an infected mosquito

. It could be mild or severe, complicated or uncomplicated. Malaria is a disease that accounts for approximately 1.5 to 2.7 million deaths resulting from 300 to 500 million cases of infection every year. In certain regions, up to 40% of toddlers may die due to acute malaria.Malaria is an parasitic infection caused by Plasmodium virus in the blood stream.

The infection has symptoms that make it noticable. A typical malarial infection consists of three phases with a certain periodicity.

1. Cold Phase - There is a feeling of being cold, irrespective of actual body temperature. The person needs a blanket or other cover and shivers uncontrollably. The skin may feel cold with a severe headache.

2. Hot Phase - There is a high fever and the patient feels hot and may throw off all the blankets. It is especially dangerous in children as it could lead to contractions.

3. Sweating Phase - There is profuse sweating after fever, the bed may even be soaked. You feel weak and feel to take rest or sleep.

Cyclical attacks - The exact period between attacks varies for the different species that causes the disease. Thus the attacks may occur at anytime between 48 hours to 72 hours.

Common Malaria Symptoms are fever, chills, nausea, headaches, sweats, fatigue and vomiting. But the severity of the signs depends on your body's immunity and your overall health. Other common symptoms of malaria are dry cough, muscle pain and enlarged spleen. Malaria Symptoms are cyclic and stay for different lengths of time. This is especially true in the initial stages of the disease. On extreme occasions, malaria may cause problems with the brain and spinal cord i.e., Cerebral Malaria and results in seizures, or even cause loss of consciousness.

Diagnosis of Malaira:

Note that humans who have been exposed to malarial paraistes or infections for a long time and are now partially immune may not show all the signs of malaria. But a non immune person will succumb very easily. The malarial diagnosis is based on a combination of risk assessment, observing symptoms and medical findings.

Laboratory examinations involve the demonstration of the parasite in a film of blood. It could be a thin film in case of identifying the particular type of parasite causing the disease or a thick film if you need more reliability in finding the parasite. Though the medicinal tests are easy to carry out, they may not be available in all locations, Therefore presumptive treatment, that is treatment based on risk assessment is the most practical approach.

The appearance of malaria symptoms depends on the type of plasmodium species. You will show the initial symptoms of malaria in 9 to 14 days if you are infected by Plasmodium falciparum; 12 to 18 days for Plasmodium vivax or Plasmodium ovale; 18 to 40 days for Plasmodium malariae. Among all the malarial infections, the infection caused by P. falciparum is the most fatal.

by: Cynthia

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