Top FAQs on Malaria Answered!
1. What is the first sign of malaria?
Malaria can cause a wide variety of symptoms that range from no symptoms in the early course of infection to severe symptoms and even death.
After a bite by the infected Anopheles mosquito, it usually takes around a week to a month for the first symptom to appear. This period is known as the incubation period. The incubation period for infection with P.falciparum (a type of malarial parasite, Plasmodium) is shorter as compared to the one with P.malariae (another malarial parasite). In most cases, it takes around 10-15 days for the symptoms to appear after a mosquito bite.
The first symptoms – fever, headache, and chills – may be mild and difficult to recognize as malaria. Some people with malaria experience cycles of malaria “attacks”, which usually starts with shivering and chills, followed by a high fever and sweating before it returns to normal temperature.
More commonly, the patient may present a combination of symptoms such as fever, chills, sweats, headaches, body aches, weakness, nausea, and vomiting.
2. How is malaria caused?
In most cases, malaria is transmitted when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites you. Anopheles mosquitoes lay their eggs in water, which hatch into larvae, eventually emerging as adult mosquitoes. These adult female mosquitoes feed on blood to nurture their eggs. So if an infected mosquito bites you, you get infected with the parasite and suffer from malaria. Kids and pregnant women are at high risk due to low immunity and high susceptibility. The risk of transmission is high during rains, changing temperature and humidity.
3. What are the 5 types of malaria?
Malaria parasites belong to the genus Plasmodium. In humans, malaria is caused by five different species of the parasite. These are P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale, P. vivax and P. knowlesi. Among these, P. falciparum is the most common one (~75%) followed by P. vivax (~20%)][1].
Malaria in India is mainly caused by P.falciparum and P.vivax although cases of malaria from P.ovale and P.malariae are also reported in some parts of the country. P. vivax is more prevalent in the plains whereas P. falciparum predominates in forested and peripheral areas.
4. How long does it take to recover from malaria?
It depends on various factors such as the severity of the disease, the species of Plasmodium causing the infection, immunity of the patient, and the potential drug resistance of the species. In general, it may take around two weeks of treatment for malaria to be treated.
If admitted in a hospital, your doctor may prescribe medications based on the type of parasite. In some cases, the medication may fail to show improvement due to drug resistance by the parasite. In such a case, your doctor may use more than one medication or change the medication to treat your condition. Malaria can be a life-threatening condition if not treated properly.
5. How do you detect malaria?
If your doctor suspects malaria, he/she might recommend blood tests to diagnose the condition. Some of the common tests used to detect malaria are:
-Blood smears in which malarial parasites can be seen with thin and thick blood smears under a microscope.
-Rapid antigen tests
-Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR)
-Antibody tests
-Susceptibility testing is to determine drug susceptibility of the parasite causing the infection.
Other tests such as complete blood count (CBC) along with tests to detect severe anemia, hypoglycemia, renal failure, hyperbilirubinemia, and acid-base disturbances might be recommended.
6. Is malaria serious?
Malaria is a serious condition which if left unattended may lead to death. Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can usually be prevented with proper diagnosis, treatment, and care.
If left untreated, it can cause severe organ failure and abnormalities in metabolism. Some of the health complications caused by malaria include[3]:
-Cerebral malaria that causes neurologic abnormalities
-Severe anemia due to the destruction of the red blood cells
-Blood in the urine
-Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) which causes a severe inflammatory reaction in the lungs
-Abnormalities in blood coagulation
-Hypotension or low blood pressure
-Hypoglycemia or low blood glucose
7. Can malaria come back?
Yes, there are high chances that the symptoms of malaria can relapse if you do not follow the treatment properly or if malaria is caused by either the P. ovale or P. vivax. It is reported that one in seven people with these types of malaria may suffer from relapse. Patients with P. vivax and P. ovale infections who have recovered from the current episode might suffer again after months or even years without showing any symptoms. This is because P. vivax and P. ovale parasites might remain dormant in the liver for years which may reactivate any time, especially when the immunity is low.