What is Malaria? Have you encountered this sickness?
By dhaeo_09
@dhaeo_09 (1007)
Philippines
December 14, 2006 2:58am CST
I encountered this one when I was in elementary grade. Almost every month Malaria visits me. Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. It infects between 300 and 500 million people every year and causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is not just a disease commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.
Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public-health problem. The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The most serious forms of the disease are caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, but other related species (Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae) can also infect humans. This group of human-pathogenic Plasmodium species are usually referred to as malaria parasites.
Malaria parasites are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes. The parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that include fever, anemia, chills, flu-like illness, and in severe cases, coma and death. Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites with mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito control by spraying insecticides inside houses and draining standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs.
Unfortunately, no vaccine is currently available for malaria. Instead preventative drugs must be taken continuously to reduce the risk of infection. These prophylactic drug treatments are simply too expensive for most people living in endemic areas. Malaria infections are treated through the use of antimalarial drugs, such as chloroquine or pyrimethamine, although drug resistance is increasingly common.
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