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 … [Read more...]
What happens after you get malaria?
QUESTION What are the after effects of malaria? ANSWER In almost all cases, if malaria is diagnosed accurately and treated promptly, patients make a full recovery with no after effects. In some cases of severe malaria, the disease can develop into cerebral malaria, which can result in impaired mental function, loss of consciousness and coma (and, if untreated, even death). Again, if … [Read more...]
How to get malaria?
QUESTION How do we 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...]
Teen Has Anaemia, Mom Had Malaria
QUESTION I am concerned that my 22 yr old daughter has anaemia (tired & sleepy), possibly caused by Malaria (Katima Mulilo, Namibia), which I contracted just before returning to Cape Town. I fell pregnant at that time. I was treated at the local hospital before returning home. Could it have affected the unborn fetus? My daughter has a low red blood count. ANSWER Congenital malaria … [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...]
Person to Person Malaria Transmission
QUESTION: If someone had malaria but they don't have it any more can they give it to someone else? ANSWER: Regardless of whether a person is still infected with malaria or not, malaria can almost never be transmitted directly from one person to another. Normally, malaria is only transmitted via infected mosquitoes; so, a mosquito has to bite an infected person, and then bite another … [Read more...]
REVIEW: The Use of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy to Protect Against Malaria Infection
Review of Le Port A, et al. (2011), ‘Prevention of Malaria during Pregnancy: Assessing the Effect of the Distribution of IPTp Through the National Policy in Benin’, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Vol 84 (Issue 2): pp 270-275 … [Read more...]
Does malaria spread from a person to another?
QUESTION: Can malaria spread from one person to another? ANSWER: Usually, no. In most cases, the malaria parasite has to first pass from a human host into a mosquito as the mosquito takes a blood meal, and then from the mosquito into another human via the mosquito's saliva. This severely limits the amount of person-to-person transmission that exists. In fact, the only mechanisms for … [Read more...]