Specific Disease Frequently Asked Questions | Malaria
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What is malaria?
Malaria is a serious, sometimes fatal, disease caused by a parasite. There
are four kinds of malaria that can infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum
(plaz-MO-dee-um fal-SIP-a-rum), P. vivax (VI-vacks), P. ovale
(o-VOL-ley), and P. malariae (ma-LER-ee-aa).
Where does malaria occur?
Malaria occurs in over 100 countries and territories. More than 40% of
the people in the world are at risk. Large areas of Central and South
America, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Africa, the Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania are considered
malaria-risk areas (an area of the world that has malaria).
How common is malaria?
The World Health Organization estimates that yearly 300-500 million cases
of malaria occur and more than 1 million people die of malaria. About
1,200 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year. Most
cases in the United States are in immigrants and travelers returning from
malaria-risk areas, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
How do you get malaria?
Humans get malaria from the bite of a malaria-infected mosquito. Aedepictus
anopheles is the mosquito that most commonly carries malaria.*
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What are the signs and symptoms
of malaria?
Symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking
chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea
may also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring
of the skin and eyes) . Infection with one type of malaria, Plasmodium
falciparum, if not promptly treated, may cause kidney failure, seizures,
mental confusion, coma, and death. Depending on the type of malaria, these
symptoms can reoccur.
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How soon will a person feel
sick after being bitten by an infected mosquito?
For most people, symptoms begin 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, although
a person may feel ill as early as 8 days or up to 1 year later. Two kinds
of malaria, P. vivax and P. ovale, can relapse; some parasites can rest
in the liver for several months up to 4 years after a person is bitten
by an infected mosquito . When these parasites come out of hibernation
and begin invading red blood cells, the person will become sick.
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How is malaria diagnosed?
Malaria is diagnosed by looking for the parasites in a drop of blood.
Blood will be put onto a microscope slide and stained so that the parasites
will be visible under a microscope.
Any traveler who becomes ill with a fever or flu-like illness
while traveling and up to 1 year after returning home should immediately
seek professional medical care. You should tell your health care provider
that you have been traveling in a malaria-risk area.
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What is the treatment for malaria?
Malaria can be cured with prescription drugs. The type of drugs and length
of treatment depend on which kind of malaria is diagnosed, where the patient
was infected, the age of the patient, and how severely ill the patient
was at start of treatment.
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How can malaria and other travel-related
illnesses be prevented?
- Visit your health care provider 4-6 weeks before foreign travel for
any necessary vaccinations and a prescription for an antimalarial drug.
- Take your antimalarial drug exactly on schedule without missing doses.
- Prevent mosquito and other insect bites. Use DEET insect repellent
on exposed skin and flying insect spray in the room where you sleep.
- Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts, especially from dusk to dawn.
This is the time when mosquitoes that spread malaria bite.
- Sleep under a mosquito bednet that has been dipped in permethrin insecticide if you are not living in screened or air-conditioned housing.