Comments for MALARIA.com http://www.malaria.com A Malaria Information and Community Portal Fri, 18 May 2012 00:34:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Malaria Symptoms and Causes by Claire Standley, Editor http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-symptoms-causes#comment-797 Claire Standley, Editor Fri, 18 May 2012 00:34:44 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4#comment-797 Hi Robert, Other pages of this website have a lot of information about malaria treatment and prevention. For example, this link will take you to our page on malaria treatment: <a href="http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-treatment-methods" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Malaria Treatment</a>. There is also a page on malaria prevention: <a href="http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-prevention" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Malaria Prevention</a>. I hope this helps with your project! Hi Robert,

Other pages of this website have a lot of information about malaria treatment and prevention. For example, this link will take you to our page on malaria treatment: Malaria Treatment. There is also a page on malaria prevention: Malaria Prevention.

I hope this helps with your project!

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]]> Comment on Malaria Symptoms and Causes by Robert http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-symptoms-causes#comment-796 Robert Thu, 17 May 2012 22:52:08 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4#comment-796 Hi I am doing a term project of the dieses of malaria and i am having trubles finding ways to prevent or treat. Can you help Thanks- Robert Hi
I am doing a term project of the dieses of malaria and i am having trubles finding ways to prevent or treat.
Can you help
Thanks- Robert

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]]> Comment on Malaria Symptoms and Causes by Claire Standley, Editor http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-symptoms-causes#comment-794 Claire Standley, Editor Thu, 17 May 2012 21:29:24 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4#comment-794 Hi, it certainly is possible to have been exposed to P. falciparum, but for your son's immune system to have successfully fought off the infection before the parasite could become properly established and cause full-blown disease. In this case, he would have antibodies against the parasite, but would not have experienced any illness. As for your other son, malaria tends to present with very acute symptoms when it does rear its head - high fever, nausea, chills, aches. Without these symptoms, I would suggest your son does not have malaria. However, there is no harm in having a blood test, but I would recommend doing a thick and thin blood smear, if possible. This will allow the doctors to see whether your son has an active malaria infection, and thus needs anti-malarials. If no parasites are visible in the blood, then he likely does not have an active infection which is causing his symptoms; as you have seen with your other son, antibodies can persist even once a person is no longer exposed to the parasite, and so if your younger son was also exposed, an antibody test at this stage might muddy the waters, and suggest he has an active malaria infection when he might not. A blood smear will clarify this. In addition, it might be worth providing your doctor with a stool sample from your younger son; intestinal parasites are very prevalent throughout East Africa and can cause lethargy, stomach aches, diarrhea, nausea, tiredness, anemia and even fever. These parasites can be identified via a stool sample and used to treat him appropriately, if he is infected. Hi, it certainly is possible to have been exposed to P. falciparum, but for your son’s immune system to have successfully fought off the infection before the parasite could become properly established and cause full-blown disease. In this case, he would have antibodies against the parasite, but would not have experienced any illness. As for your other son, malaria tends to present with very acute symptoms when it does rear its head – high fever, nausea, chills, aches. Without these symptoms, I would suggest your son does not have malaria. However, there is no harm in having a blood test, but I would recommend doing a thick and thin blood smear, if possible. This will allow the doctors to see whether your son has an active malaria infection, and thus needs anti-malarials. If no parasites are visible in the blood, then he likely does not have an active infection which is causing his symptoms; as you have seen with your other son, antibodies can persist even once a person is no longer exposed to the parasite, and so if your younger son was also exposed, an antibody test at this stage might muddy the waters, and suggest he has an active malaria infection when he might not. A blood smear will clarify this. In addition, it might be worth providing your doctor with a stool sample from your younger son; intestinal parasites are very prevalent throughout East Africa and can cause lethargy, stomach aches, diarrhea, nausea, tiredness, anemia and even fever. These parasites can be identified via a stool sample and used to treat him appropriately, if he is infected.

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]]> Comment on Malaria Symptoms and Causes by Wendy http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-symptoms-causes#comment-793 Wendy Thu, 17 May 2012 09:16:50 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4#comment-793 We visited Kenya and Zanzibar in 2007 took the usually anti-malarial drugs and were unaware that any of us had been bitten during the trip. My older son has just had a full medical and one of his blood tests came back with a high count for malarial anti-bodies for P. falciparum (he had a second blood test to confirm this). The doctor’s conclusion is that he has had malaria at some time. We’re puzzled as he has never experienced any illness since we came back from the trip. Can this happen? My younger son on the other hand has not been fully fit since returning from the trip. He has had various blood tests but nothing has shown up. Do you think he should be tested for malaria antibodies? We visited Kenya and Zanzibar in 2007 took the usually anti-malarial drugs and were unaware that any of us had been bitten during the trip. My older son has just had a full medical and one of his blood tests came back with a high count for malarial anti-bodies for P. falciparum (he had a second blood test to confirm this). The doctor’s conclusion is that he has had malaria at some time. We’re puzzled as he has never experienced any illness since we came back from the trip. Can this happen? My younger son on the other hand has not been fully fit since returning from the trip. He has had various blood tests but nothing has shown up. Do you think he should be tested for malaria antibodies?

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]]> Comment on Malaria Symptoms and Causes by Claire Standley, Editor http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-symptoms-causes#comment-791 Claire Standley, Editor Wed, 16 May 2012 22:01:27 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4#comment-791 Unfortunately, there is not that much you can do apart from wait - the drugs will eventually naturally leave your system, or be broken down and processed by your body. Anti-malarial drugs are not usually associated with severe side effects, except when therapeutic quantities have been exceeded, so it may also be that some of your symptoms are still due to whatever caused your initial illness. Needless to say, if your doctors now say you don't have malaria, it is important to try to diagnose what caused those initial symptoms of chills, headache and fever! Unfortunately, there is not that much you can do apart from wait – the drugs will eventually naturally leave your system, or be broken down and processed by your body. Anti-malarial drugs are not usually associated with severe side effects, except when therapeutic quantities have been exceeded, so it may also be that some of your symptoms are still due to whatever caused your initial illness. Needless to say, if your doctors now say you don’t have malaria, it is important to try to diagnose what caused those initial symptoms of chills, headache and fever!

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]]> Comment on Malaria FAQ by Claire Standley, Editor http://www.malaria.com/overview/malaria-faq#comment-790 Claire Standley, Editor Wed, 16 May 2012 21:58:36 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=8#comment-790 The malaria parasite has a latent period in the body, which usually lasts about 1-4 weeks. Many prophylactic drugs require that they be taken for at least this amount of time, therefore, in order to be effective. As such, it will depend a bit on the type of prophylactic drug taken, and specifically how long it is expected to last in the body and if it is contraindicated for pregnancy. At a minimum, 5 weeks would probably be a good amount of time to wait, but you should confer with your doctor who can give you more specific advice based on the type of prophylaxis and also which malaria region the travel was to (since different types of malaria have different length latent periods). The malaria parasite has a latent period in the body, which usually lasts about 1-4 weeks. Many prophylactic drugs require that they be taken for at least this amount of time, therefore, in order to be effective. As such, it will depend a bit on the type of prophylactic drug taken, and specifically how long it is expected to last in the body and if it is contraindicated for pregnancy. At a minimum, 5 weeks would probably be a good amount of time to wait, but you should confer with your doctor who can give you more specific advice based on the type of prophylaxis and also which malaria region the travel was to (since different types of malaria have different length latent periods).

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]]> Comment on Travel Information by Claire Standley, Editor http://www.malaria.com/overview/travel-information#comment-789 Claire Standley, Editor Wed, 16 May 2012 21:56:14 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=167#comment-789 While the symptoms are certainly broadly consistent with malaria (apart from the lack of high fever, which is usually a crucial symptom), the length of time the symptoms have endured is not very characteristic of malaria, which tends to be an acute infection. There are exceptions to this, in particular infection caused by Plasmodium malariae, which can be even asymptomatic in a lot of cases, but this tends to exhibit three-day cyclical fever. For peace of mind, getting a blood test for malaria would be a sensible step. If you have access to a specialized travel clinic or hospital that has a tropical diseases section, they may be more willing to test for the disease. Similarly, your brother-in-law may be able to order a self-testing rapid diagnostic test online, and use that as a first test. Be sure to get a test that looks for all types of malaria, and not just P. falciparum, as other types of malaria are more commonly found in the Mediterranean (namely P. vivax). It is also important that if you do get a rapid diagnostic test, and if it is positive, that your brother-in-law still seeks a second opinion from a medical professional, though perhaps the self-testing result might help persuade them that malaria is a possibility! While the symptoms are certainly broadly consistent with malaria (apart from the lack of high fever, which is usually a crucial symptom), the length of time the symptoms have endured is not very characteristic of malaria, which tends to be an acute infection. There are exceptions to this, in particular infection caused by Plasmodium malariae, which can be even asymptomatic in a lot of cases, but this tends to exhibit three-day cyclical fever.

For peace of mind, getting a blood test for malaria would be a sensible step. If you have access to a specialized travel clinic or hospital that has a tropical diseases section, they may be more willing to test for the disease. Similarly, your brother-in-law may be able to order a self-testing rapid diagnostic test online, and use that as a first test. Be sure to get a test that looks for all types of malaria, and not just P. falciparum, as other types of malaria are more commonly found in the Mediterranean (namely P. vivax). It is also important that if you do get a rapid diagnostic test, and if it is positive, that your brother-in-law still seeks a second opinion from a medical professional, though perhaps the self-testing result might help persuade them that malaria is a possibility!

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]]> Comment on Malaria Drug May Also Treat Cancer, Say Researchers by Claire Standley, Editor http://www.malaria.com/videos/malaria-drug-cancer#comment-788 Claire Standley, Editor Wed, 16 May 2012 21:51:28 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4229#comment-788 Hi, it is certainly being used to treat stage four cancer in some cases (usually alongside other drugs, and also in combination with surgery), but I have not found any information that reports directly on the success of this drug in stage four patients. I noticed that a clinical trial is currently recruiting patients to test this drug on stage three and stage four melanoma patients, so perhaps we will have more data soon. Hi, it is certainly being used to treat stage four cancer in some cases (usually alongside other drugs, and also in combination with surgery), but I have not found any information that reports directly on the success of this drug in stage four patients. I noticed that a clinical trial is currently recruiting patients to test this drug on stage three and stage four melanoma patients, so perhaps we will have more data soon.

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]]> Comment on Malaria Drug May Also Treat Cancer, Say Researchers by Brianna http://www.malaria.com/videos/malaria-drug-cancer#comment-785 Brianna Mon, 14 May 2012 13:06:27 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=4229#comment-785 Can this cure Stage 4 cancer??? Can this cure Stage 4 cancer???

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]]> Comment on Travel Information by Deborah http://www.malaria.com/overview/travel-information#comment-782 Deborah Sat, 12 May 2012 10:42:38 +0000 http://www.malaria.com/?p=167#comment-782 Plus his ESR is through the roof and he just "smells" septic without a pyrexia. He has a UTI too Deb Plus his ESR is through the roof and he just “smells” septic without a pyrexia. He has a UTI too Deb

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