QUESTION Where does malaria occur? ANSWER Malaria has at some stage or another occurred on every continent of the world except Antarctica. Currently, cases of human malaria are mainly found in Central and South America, parts of the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, parts of the Middle East, south Asia, south-east Asia, and the Pacific Islands of Oceania. Control efforts, mainly consisting … [Read more...]
Malarone and Mefloquine for Malaria
QUESTION Which drug is better for kids for anti-malaria - Malarone or Mefloquine. I have heard about lot of side-effects of Mefloquine. So, which is a safer drug out of these two or is there any other drug with no side-effects? Is it important to take anti-malaria pills keeping in mind the side-effects? ANSWER Both drugs are considered safe for children, though Malarone … [Read more...]
Number of Species of Malaria
QUESTION I recently read an ISOS world malaria day poster saying 5 species of plasmodium cause malaria. I think that is confusing as we always talked about 4, ovale, vivax, falciparum and malaria....are they referring to the way we now split ovale into 2 sub species? or is this a typo on their part? ANSWER That is a really interesting question, and a good observation on your part! I … [Read more...]
Distribution of Malaria
QUESTION Where does malaria mostly take place? ANSWER Malaria is mainly transmitted in tropical regions of the world; while some transmission does occur outside of the tropics, it tends to be seasonal in these areas (i.e. usually only during periods of high temperature/high rainfall). Within the tropics, malaria is found on all continents, though the highest number of cases is in Africa, … [Read more...]
How many countries have malaria?
QUESTION How many countries are malaria infected? ANSWER As of 2010, there were 108 countries which were listed as having endemic malaria—that is, malaria which was transmitted within the country. This includes 43 countries in Africa, 10 countries in south-east Asia, 13 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean (which includes most of Central Asia and parts of North and East … [Read more...]
Which Anti Malarial for South-East Asia?
QUESTION We are in our 70s and will be on a cruise from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh. Which anti malarial would be most effective for these areas? ANSWER The main thing to consider when travelling to south-east Asia is that there are areas where some of the malaria is resistant to mefloquine (commonly sold as Lariam), and therefore this drug is not appropriate as an anti-malarial in these … [Read more...]
Current Status of Malaria
QUESTION: What is the current status on malaria? And does P.knowlesi spp. pose a greater threat compared to the others? Does the number malaria cases increase every year globally? Is P. knowlesi spp. more dangerous than the others and why? ANSWER: I'll answer your question about Plasmodium knowlesi first. So far, it is considered a relatively minor source of malaria in humans, as its … [Read more...]
Monkeys Provide Malaria Reservoir for Human Disease in South-East Asia
Monkeys infected with an emerging malaria strain are providing a reservoir for human disease in Southeast Asia, according to recent research. The study confirms that the species has not yet adapted to humans and that monkeys are the main source of infection. Malaria is a potentially deadly disease that kills over a million people each year. The disease is caused by malaria parasites, which are … [Read more...]