QUESTION What are the causes of malaria? ANSWER Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they … [Read more...]
What is malaria, and what causes it?
QUESTION What is malaria and what causes it? ANSWER Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and … [Read more...]
Transmission of Malaria
QUESTION Why can the malaria parasite be transmitted from mosquito to human, but not from human to human (via blood)? ANSWER This is a very good question, and actually, malaria can be transmitted via human blood directly to another person, but this occurs relatively rarely! It has to do with the life cycle of the malaria parasite. When a mosquito bites a human host, it injects … [Read more...]
Malaria Transmission
QUESTION Can one get malaria through contact with the infected person or is it airborne? ANSWER Malaria cannot be transmitted through direct contact with an infected person, nor is it airborne! It is actually transmitted directly via the bite of an infected mosquito. Only certain female mosquitoes, of the genus Anopheles, can carry malaria. The mosquito picks up the malaria parasite … [Read more...]
Malaria Infection
QUESTION How can you get infected with malaria? ANSWER Malaria is transmitted directly via the bite of an infected mosquito. Only certain female mosquitoes, of the genus Anopheles, can carry malaria. The mosquito picks up the malaria parasite (there are five different types of malaria that infect humans, though all are transmitted in exactly the same way) when it feeds on the blood of an … [Read more...]
How Does One Contract Malaria?
QUESTION How to get malaria? ANSWER Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have … [Read more...]
Malaria Transmission Through Sexual Contact
QUESTION Can i get malaria if i have sex with someone that has malaria? ANSWER No. Malaria cannot be sexually transmitted. In virtually all cases, malaria is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, of the genus Anopheles. The mosquito passes the malaria parasite (there are several species which cause malaria in humans, all of the genus Plasmodium) through its saliva when it … [Read more...]
Mosquitoes and AIDS
QUESTION Can mosquito cause AIDS, and why? ANSWER No, HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) cannot be transmitted via mosquitoes. When the virus was first discovered, there was a fear that it could be transmitted via the blood ingested by mosquitoes as they feed between humans. However, it was shown very quickly that the virus was too unstable to survive within the mosquito, and so … [Read more...]
What are Gametocytes?
QUESTION What are Gametocytes? ANSWER Gametocytes are the sexually reproductive form of the malaria parasite. They circulate in the blood of the human/mammal host and are picked up by the mosquito when it takes a blood meal. Inside the mosquito, the gametocytes undergo sexual reproduction in the mosquito midgut, producing oocysts which attach to the midgut wall and produce sporozoites, … [Read more...]
Causes of Malaria
QUESTION What causes malaria? ANSWER Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have … [Read more...]