Malaria symptoms, types, causes, treatment and prevention

What Is Malaria ?

Malaria is a disease in which the patient has frequent fever along with cold and headache. In this the fever sometimes subsides and sometimes it comes again. In severe cases the patient goes into coma or even dies.

Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium. Malaria is caused by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito which releases this parasite into the body.

According to new WHO estimates released in December 2016, there were 21 crore cases of malaria and 42,000 deaths. In 2015, malaria transmission was occurring in 91 countries and territories.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India accounts for 77% of the total malaria cases in Southeast Asia. This disease is mainly prevalent in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa, Southern Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and North-Eastern states.

Which mosquito spreads malaria?

The Plasmodium parasite is spread mainly through the bites of female Anopheles mosquitoes, which bite mainly in the evening and at night. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and that too only if they are infected with the blood of a person already infected with malaria.

Malaria prevention –

• The best way to prevent malaria is to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and biting.
• Other measures to prevent malaria are as follows –
• Stay indoors as much as possible, especially at night when mosquitoes are more active.
• Use mosquito nets.
• Use mosquito nets with insect repellent permethrin.
• Wear clothes that cover most of your body
• Use insect repellent containing DEET or picaridin. These are applied directly to the skin (except your mouth and eyes). If you choose a picaridin-based repellent, you will need to reapply it every few hours.
• Apply permethrin to clothing.
• There is currently no vaccine available that protects against malaria, so you should take antimalarial medicine to reduce your chances of getting the disease.

symptoms of malaria :

There are many symptoms of malaria but it is not necessary that all these symptoms are visible in the same patient.

1. Fever

2. Having a headache

3. Vomiting

4. Nausea

5. Feeling cold

6. Dizziness

7. Feeling tired

Types of malaria parasites :

There are five types of malaria parasites.

1. Plasmodium Falciparum: This malaria parasite is usually found in Africa, due to which the patient experiences headache along with chills.

2. Plasmodium Vivax: This vivax parasite bites during day time and its effect starts appearing after 48 hours. Due to this disease there is headache, pain in hands and legs, loss of appetite and high fever. Is.

3. Plasmodium ovale: This is an unusual parasite and is found in West Africa. It can live in the liver for many years without producing symptoms in the patient.

4. Plasmodium Malaria:  It is a type of malaria protozoa. Due to this disease, the patient starts having fever every fourth day and due to low amount of protein in the body, swelling starts occurring in the body.

5. Plasmodium knowlesi: This parasite is commonly found in Southeast Asia and is a primate malaria parasite. In this, the patient gets fever along with chills and has to face problems like headache, loss of appetite, fever.

Causes of Malaria :

1. Anopheles female mosquito is the main cause of malaria. Also known as Plasmodium, most malaria infections in India are caused by Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum.

2. If the Anopheles mosquito bites another person after biting a malaria infected patient, then malaria bacteria enter the body of the other person as well.

3. Malaria also occurs due to exchange of blood of a person suffering from malaria.

Diagnosis of Malaria :

1. A blood sample is taken from the body of a malaria patient and a blood smear is prepared from this sample.

2. If the doctor has doubts due to the absence of malaria parasite in the blood smear, he should re-test in 8 to 12 hours for the next 36 hours.

3. If the number of malaria parasites is increasing or decreasing in the blood, it is checked by the doctor.

4 Genetic and blood tests use special stains to show the presence of parasites.

Damage caused by malaria :

1. Cerebral Malaria: This can also be the cause of coma because when the blood cells are filled with parasites, they block small blood vessels in the patient’s brain, causing swelling in the brain and damage to parts of the brain. There is a risk of this happening.

2. Difficulty in breathing: Breathing problem occurs due to accumulated fluid in the lungs.

3. Failure of body organs: Due to malaria, the patient’s kidneys, liver and spleen organs may fail. This situation can prove fatal.

4. Anemia: Malaria damages the red blood cells due to which there is a risk of severe anemia.

5. Low blood sugar: Blood sugar may decrease in malaria and due to low blood sugar, the patient may go into coma or may even die.

Home remedies to treat malaria :

Apart from English medicines, malaria can also be treated with home remedies. The biggest advantage of any home remedy is that it has no side effects. The special thing is that now many doctors have also started advising to take natural remedies other than antibiotics for serious diseases like malaria. Let us know some home remedies-

• Consuming 40 to 70 ml decoction or juice of Giloy mixed with honey regularly is beneficial in malaria. For this type of fever, crush about 40 grams of Giloy, mix it with water in an earthen vessel and keep it covered overnight. After crushing it in the morning, filtering it and drinking 80 grams of it three times a day, the patient gets cured of fever.
• Consumption of guava is beneficial in malaria. If someone has malaria, then feed him guava three times a day. Will be very effective. Compared to guava, its peel contains much more Vitamin C. Therefore, never eat guava after removing its peel. For the treatment of malaria, grinding 10 grams of basil leaves and 7-8 chillies in water and taking it in the morning and evening cures fever. You can also add honey to it. Apart from many properties, basil also proves helpful in warding off mosquitoes.
• Apart from enhancing the taste of food, consumption of ginger is also very beneficial for the treatment of malaria. Take some ginger, add 2-3 spoons of raisins and boil it with water. Keep boiling it until the water reduces to half. After it cools down a bit, take it twice a day. You will get a lot of benefits.
• For the treatment of malaria, grinding 10 grams of basil leaves and 7-8 chillies in water and taking it in the morning and evening cures fever. You can also add honey to it. Apart from many properties, basil also proves helpful in warding off mosquitoes.

Complications of Malaria :

There are some types of Plasmodium, the malaria caused by which can be fatal. Malaria infection caused by the Plasmodium parasite found in Africa can be fatal. Malaria sometimes increases the risk of the following conditions –

• Infection reaching the brain (cerebral malaria)
• having trouble breathing
• Organ failure
• anemia
• low blood sugar