QUESTION: What is malaria? ANSWER: Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Transmitted by mosquitoes, there are several different kinds of malaria distributed throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, causing somewhere between 300-500 million cases of disease each year, and as many as 1 million deaths. In fact, malaria is one of the biggest … [Read more...]
Is malaria contagious?
QUESTION: Is malaria contagious? ANSWER: No, malaria isn't directly contagious from one person to another. It has to be transmitted by the bite of a mosquito, which means that if someone near you has malaria, those mosquitoes that bite him are carrying the disease! So, the best way to avoid getting infected is to make sure neither you nor your brother are bitten by mosquitoes. The best … [Read more...]
Is malaria caused by a dietary absence?
QUESTION: Is malaria caused by the absence of one of the following in diet: bacteria, virus, fungi, protozoa? ANSWER: If I understand your question correctly, you are asking if malaria is caused by the absence of a particular organism from a person's diet—in fact, malaria is caused by a protozoan, but infection is not linked to a person's diet. Instead, people are infected with the … [Read more...]
Malaria in Malaysia
QUESTION: Is there malaria in Malaysia? ANSWER: Yes, there is malaria in Malaysia, although efficient vector control campaigns, alongside a well-functioning health system which effectively diagnoses and treats malaria cases has vastly reduced the transmission of the disease in peninsular Malaysia at least. Transmission is still a problem in rural, interior areas, and especially in Sabah … [Read more...]
What are the strains of malaria?
QUESTION: What are the different strains of malaria? ANSWER: Malaria is caused by small, single-celled parasites called protozoans, and specifically ones of the genus Plasmodium. There are many, many species of Plasmodium, which infect a wide variety of different species, from lizards and birds to rodents, bats and primates. Of all the species of malaria, four main ones infect humans - … [Read more...]
Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa
QUESTION: I live in the USA and I would like to start a business to fight mosquitoes and malaria: Can you advise me how and where to start? ANSWER: I take it from the subject heading of the question that you would like to focus on sub-Saharan Africa—a crucial thing to note at this stage is that malaria is serious disease that affects millions of people throughout Africa (as well as … [Read more...]
What is malaria, and how can it be cured?
QUESTION: What is malaria? How could we cure it? ANSWER: Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Transmitted by mosquitoes, there are several different kinds of malaria distributed throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world, causing somewhere between 300-500 million cases of disease each year, and as many as 1 million deaths. In fact, malaria … [Read more...]
Can malaria kill you?
QUESTION: Can malaria kill you? ANSWER: YES! Malaria, especially of the kind caused by Plasmodium falciparum parasites, can be an extremely severe illness and even deadly. Somewhere between 700,000 and 1 million people die of malaria every year, and the majority of these are children under the age of five years old, which is the age group most susceptible to severe malaria attacks. … [Read more...]
What is malaria?
QUESTION: What is malaria? ANSWER: To answer your question, I have copied below the answer to an earlier post, published on the 1st of May, 2011, which also asked "What is malaria?": Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. Transmitted by mosquitoes, there are several different kinds of malaria distributed throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the … [Read more...]
In which country did malaria start?
QUESTION: In which country did malaria start? ANSWER: That's an interesting question! In terms of the evolution of the disease, the different types of malaria probably evolved in different places; it is hypothesised for example, that P. falciparum evolved from a related strain of malaria that is found in gorillas in central Africa, so the human form also probably originates from that … [Read more...]