What is Malaria?

What is Malaria?

Malaria is found mainly in countries near the equator, including Cameroon. I always try to take the proper steps to avoid malaria whenever I can. For example, I sleep under a mosquito net and take my malaria prophylaxis everyday. So far I have not had malaria here in Cameroon: I had one presumed case but the test result was negative.

Map showing distribution of malaria transmission.

Malaria is a disease that is caused by a parasite of the Plasmodium genus and is transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. The life cycle of malaria, or  rather the Plasmodium parasite, starts when an infected mosquito bites a person who does not have malaria and infects them with the parasite. The parasite first develops in the liver and then moves to the blood. After that the person starts to show the symptoms of malaria and passes on the parasite when bitten by an uninfected mosquito. And the cycle repeats.

This image shows the life cycle of the Plasmodium parasite in detail, including the developmental stages of the parasite inside each of its hosts.

This image shows the cycle in a much simpler way, infected mosquito bites uninfected person and infects them then an uninfected mosquito bites the infected person and becomes infected.

This makes malaria a community disease. When one person has malaria and they do not treat it properly or they do not take precautions to protect themselves from other mosquitoes it becomes possible for them to pass malaria on to other people through the mosquitoes that bite them.

The female Anopheles mosquito bites at night which makes sleeping under a mosquito net every night the best way to prevent malaria. Since malaria is a community disease, getting treatment right away is the best thing to do if you do get malaria. Although, a person should get tested for malaria before they treat for malaria because the parasite could develop resistance to the drugs that are used to treat malaria. That is what happened with Chloroquine, a drug that used to be used to treat malaria. Chloroquine can no longer be used in many places because it was used to treat almost any fever without testing for malaria and the parasite developed resistance to it.

According to WHO, mortality from malaria has fallen by 42% globally since 2000 however, malaria is still responsible for over 600,000 deaths each year around the world. Most of the deaths caused by malaria, about 90%, happen in sub-Saharan Africa and about 85% of those deaths occur in children under five years old. Children under five years old, pregnant women, people living with HIV/AIDS, and non-immune foreigners are the groups that are most at risk of dying of malaria. "The Millennium Development Goal 6 specifically targets the reduction of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. It is estimated that since 2000, 1.1 million deaths from malaria have been averted due to measures taken to reduce the disease. Countries which have adopted malaria control programs had a reduction in child malaria mortality." (Peace Corps Cameroon Malaria Handbook, 2014 Edition). Cameroon now has a National Malaria Control Program and is working to eradicate malaria in Cameroon.