Most At-Risk Populations of Malaria

There are four populations that are more at risk of catching and/or dying from malaria. These populations are children under five years old, pregnant women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and non-immune foreigners.

Children under five years old are at-risk because they have not yet developed any immunity or resistance to the disease and are not as able to survive the symptoms. Each year in Cameroon, often more than half of the deaths caused by malaria are in children under five years old. Often seen in young children, severe malaria can cause anemia when the parasite feeds off  of the red blood cells and destroys them resulting in a dangerous lack of oxygen reaching the organs. When this happens it can lead to coma and death.

Pregnant women are at-risk because diagnosis of malaria during pregnancy can be difficult and they can also become severely anemic. Diagnosis can be difficult because the parasite will not always show up in a blood smear but will rather show up in a sample of the placenta. Women are at highest risk of complications caused by malaria during their first pregnancies, immunity is built up with each successive pregnancy.

People living with HIV/AIDS are at-risk because their immune systems are already compromised. Their compromised immune systems put them at higher risk of complications from malaria.

The final at-risk population is non-immune foreigners because they have not built up any immunity to the disease. Malaria can cause blood clots and mini-strokes, which can lead to coma and death, in people experiencing one of their first cases of malaria. The parasite avoids the spleen, which can filter out infected red blood cells, by attaching itself to the sides of the blood vessel walls, usually in the brain, and obstructs the flow of blood. When this happens it is called cerebral malaria.

These populations are at-risk because they are more likely to get severe malaria or to have untreated simple malaria develop into severe malaria. Severe malaria is often the cause of many of the complications that these populations may experience.