QUESTION Is Australia, Bali or Tasmania in the malaria affected area? ANSWER While malaria used to be endemic in parts of Australia (not Tasmania—it is too cold), the country was declared to be free of malaria transmission in 1981. However, several hundred cases are reported in Australia every year, mainly brought back by travellers returning from other regions, such as south-east … [Read more...]
Malaria in Haiti
QUESTION I just recently returned from Senegal, 60 days ago, in which I had taken Malaria medicine; Chloroquine. I am heading to Haiti in 5 days, and wondering if I am in need of taking Malaria medicine again, or was the time frame close enough that it would be fine to go without. ANSWER You are only protected against malaria while you are taking the anti-malarial prophylactic medicine. … [Read more...]
Insecticide Treated Bednets (ITNs) Research
QUESTION I want to know about the treated bed net, because I want research about the ITNs. So please help me find some reasearch papers. ANSWER There are a wealth of scientific studies on ITNs. I will list a few here, which in turn will lead you to many others through their cited references. I am purposefully mostly mentioning papers published in open access journals, since many others … [Read more...]
Fever and Body Aches with Malaria
QUESTION Is bad throat and fever with with body ache the symptom of malaria? ANSWER While fever and body aches are certainly some of the symptoms associated with malaria, a sore throat is well common, but could be the result of enlarged lymph nodes. It is important to note that these symptoms are also present with many other diseases; in fact, the symptoms of malaria are so general that … [Read more...]
Tested Positive for Malaria
QUESTION I was found with malaria 0.25% positive in my test report..... will this make to reject my application from a Malaysian university? ANSWER Malaria is an infection with a parasite of the genus Plasmodium; all types are very treatable, and so even if you have tested positive, you can easily get medication which will allow you to recover fully from the disease. While some … [Read more...]
How many types of malaria are there?
QUESTION How many types of malaria are there? ANSWER There are four species of malaria parasite that commonly infect humans. These are: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale and P. malariae. In addition, a fifth species, P. knowlesi, is starting to draw public health attention as an infection in humans in south-east Asia, and particularly Borneo - previously, it was thought to only … [Read more...]
Malaria in Africa
QUESTION What percent of Africa has malaria? ANSWER That is very difficult to measure, but maps of malaria transmission potential show that malaria is potentially present across most of the continent, excluding the heart of the Sahara and Kalahari deserts, and the highlands of Ethiopia, Lesotho and Uganda/Rwanda. Other parts of the continent, such as the coastline of North Africa (along … [Read more...]
Treatment of Malaria in India
QUESTION In India how to treat a child and adult suffering from malaria? ANSWER Chloroquine-resistant malaria has been observed in India and so the first line drug of choice should be an artemisinin-derivative in combination with another drug (this group of medications are more generally known as "artemisinin-based combination therapies" or ACTs). A common example of this is artemether in … [Read more...]
Joint Pain and Malaria
QUESTION Could an onset of joint pain and swelling plus hurting all over be a residual for someone who has had malaria? ANSWER Once someone has been treated for malaria, they should not experience any further residual effects, particularly if the infection was uncomplicated and treated using oral medication. Joint pain, swelling and pain could well be indications of another infection, and … [Read more...]
Spleen Enlargement with Malaria
QUESTION Will malaria present without splenic enlargement? ANSWER Splenomegaly is commonly one of the early and consistent signs of malaria, with the spleen being palpable sometimes as early as the first paroxysm but usually becoming noticeable after the first week of illness. However, absence of splenic enlargement does not eliminate malaria as the cause of illness, and a blood test … [Read more...]