Malaria

Malaria

About half of the world’s population is in danger of malaria, states WHO. A parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, malaria causes more than 6, 60,000 deaths every year. Causes Plasmodium is the parasite that causes malaria; it is transmitted from one person to another through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Once infected, these parasites travel through the blood to the liver, where they mature and multiply. They then infect the red blood cells causing them to break open, releasing haemoglobin. This loss of haemoglobin leads to anaemia. Signs and Symptoms It takes about ten days to four weeks for the symptoms of the disease to appear after infection. The time period from infection to appearance of symptoms varies depending on the type of the parasite that causes infection. Commonly noted signs and symptoms are:

Chills and fever Sweating Headache and muscle pain Nausea and vomiting

Most of these are mild and common symptoms that could be confused with other infectious illnesses. Therefore, all suspected cases of malaria need to be diagnosed and confirmed for giving adequate medical treatment. Treatment If you notice the above given symptoms, immediately consult our doctors at Apollo Clinics. If adequate healthcare is provided in time, malaria is a completely treatable disease. Timely medical intervention can not only curb the deaths due to malaria, but also prevent further spread of the disease.

A complete blood count test is done to confirm anaemia. An enlarged spleen or liver should also alert the doctor about the illness.

Once diagnosed with malaria, the patient requires to be hospitalised and is mainly treated using anti-malarial drugs such as Chloroquine and Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. There have been reports of Anopheles mosquitoes becoming resistant to the various drugs generally prescribed. Therefore, doctors give a combination of drugs to curb the illness.

The treatment and the type of drugs prescribed depend on the age of the person, severity of the illness and also the type of parasite.

In severe cases, where the patient is suffering from respiratory problems, breathing support may be given along with medication.

Also, if the patients are too weak to eat food on their own, then fluids may be given intravenously.

Prevention

As malaria is a vector-borne disease, the first step in prevention is to ensure that mosquitoes don’t breed in your surrounding areas. Simple measures such as ensuring there are no stagnant water bodies around your house and/or spraying insecticide to prevent mosquito breeding could help.

Use bed nets or nets to cover the windows to prevent mosquitoes from entering your house.

Minimise venturing out in the night, and if you have to, wear clothes with long sleeves and long pants to ensure very little of the body surface is exposed to mosquitoes.

There are no licensed vaccines that can prevent malaria. However, scientists are working on developing vaccine to curb this menace.

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