QUESTION What are mosquito larvae? ANSWER Larvae are one of the life stages of mosquitoes; they are baby mosquitoes, if you will. Adult mosquitoes lay eggs as a "raft" on the surface of a body of fresh water—they prefer still and stagnant pools. These eggs then hatch into the mosquito larvae, which live in the freshwater pool until they form a pupa, just under the surface. These … [Read more...]
Schizont
QUESTION What is a schizont? ANSWER A schizont is a malaria parasite which has matured and contains many merozoites, which are the parasite stage that infects red blood cells. Schizonts can be produces during two separate phases of the life cycle within the human host: first in the hepatocytic cells in the liver (when sporozoites mature) during the exo-erythrocytic cycle and then … [Read more...]
How to Prevent Malaria
QUESTION How to prevent malaria? ANSWER Despite its wide geographic range and potentially severe consequences, there are actually several effective strategies for controlling malaria, many of which have been successful of reducing the burden of the disease, and especially the number of deaths, in various regions. The first step towards control is prevention. This has largely been … [Read more...]
Paludisme Depuis 5 Mois (Malaria for 5 Months)
QUESTION: En fait je souffre d'un palu que le médécin a mal traité après une analyse sanguine. J'aimerais savoir comment faire pour m'en débarrasser car je traine ce palu maitenant depuis 5 mois. ENGLISH TRANSLATION: In fact I suffer from malaria which the doctor has treated poorly after a blood test. I would like to know how to clear myself of this because I have been carrying this … [Read more...]
History of Fighting Malaria
QUESTION What are some examples of attempts of fighting this disease that happened in the past? ANSWER The battle against malaria has been going on, in one form or another, for literally thousands of years. The ancient Chinese mention the symptoms of the disease in a medical scroll as early as 2700 BCE - even more remarkably, a herb called Artemesia has been used in traditional Chinese … [Read more...]
Does malaria kill?
QUESTION Is malaria a killer disease? ANSWER Yes. Malaria causes somewhere between 700,000 to 1 million deaths worldwide, mostly in children under five, and mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. As such, it is actually one of the leading causes of death in young children in developing countries. Given this high mortality, many initiatives working to control malaria are dedicated to reducing … [Read more...]
Where does malaria come from?
QUESTION Where does malaria normally come from? ANSWER Malaria is caused by single-celled parasites of the genus Plasmodium; the parasites enter the human body via the bite of an infected mosquito. However, the mosquito has to pick up the infection in the first place from another infected human; so in a sense, you could say that malaria both comes from mosquitoes, as well as from other … [Read more...]
Malaria Treatment Time and Hiccups
QUESTION I am suffering from pf malaria with enlarged liver and spleen under the treatment from last one week and the abdominal pain has subsided. But I am experiencing hiccups. How long it will take for complete recovery? ANSWER It is a good sign that you are already feeling better following your treatment for malaria. Interestingly, hiccups have been linked to infections with parasites, … [Read more...]
Typhoid and Malaria
QUESTION: Since i was suffering with fever for 5 days I consulted a doctor, have undergone blood test, and got typhoid as positive, but the treatment didn't work. I was tested for malaria and result was positive. Ii've been given chloroquine for three days and primaquine for 28 days. After chloroquine was completed I started using primaquine. During this time I got fever and I got typhoid … [Read more...]
Malaria and Sexual Contact
QUESTION Is a person with malaria allowed sexual contact or not? ANSWER Malaria cannot be transmitted between people through sexual contact (or indeed, between people at all—it must go through a mosquito before it can pass into another human host), so from the point of view of spreading the disease, sexual activity is not disallowed. However, people with malaria often feel very … [Read more...]