WORLD MALARIA DAY 2023: Malaria is a disease transmitted through mosquito bites that can be deadly for humans, especially in tropical areas. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2021, there were 217 million cases of malaria worldwide and 619,000 people died from the disease. Although the majority of cases occur in Africa, WHO notes that around 20,000 people die from malaria in India every year.

World Malaria Day is observed on April 25th each year to bring attention to the global efforts to control and eliminate the disease. In this article, we will explore the causes, symptoms, and prevention of malaria.

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Malaria Causes

1. Malaria is caused by parasitic microorganisms called Plasmodium, which are unicellular in nature.
2. These parasites are transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, which carry the parasites in their saliva.
3. Once inside the human body, the parasites enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver, where they mature and begin to reproduce.
4. There are five different types of Plasmodium parasites that can cause malaria, namely P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi.
5. Among them, P. falciparum is the most lethal and responsible for the majority of malaria-related deaths.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

1. Patients begin to experience intense fever, and chills, get headaches, muscle pain, nausea and vomiting, leading to intense exhaustion.
2. Children display symptoms like coughing, fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.
3. The symptoms occur as the parasites reproduce inside the red blood cells and cause them to rupture.
4. The loss of red blood cells leads to anaemia. Malaria may also lead to jaundice.
5. Symptoms start to show up anywhere from 10 days to four weeks following infection.
6. Many patients develop respiratory distress, enlarged liver and spleen, fluid accumulation in the lungs, pneumonia, hypoglycaemia, kidney failure, retina whitening, and encephalopathy.
7. Further complications may lead to bleeding, impaired coagulation, shock and death.
8. Malaria is diagnosed using rapid diagnostic tests and microscopic examination of blood smears.

Prevention

1. The use of mosquito repellents is advised to prevent mosquito bites.
2. Anopheles mosquitoes breed in stagnant water, in containers, puddles, rice fields, or animal hoof marks. Hence, removing stagnant water is vital.
3. Using insecticide-treated nets and indoor and outdoor insecticide spraying is essential.
4. WHO-recommended chemopreventive malaria therapies also exist.
5. Additionally, the vaccine RTS, S/AS01, which works against the P falciparum parasite, has shown effectiveness in reducing malaria in children.

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