Things you should know about Malaria on HWN FAN COLUMN

Visiting a malaria-risk area and not sure what to do?
You've heard that malaria has become drug-resistant, so is it worth taking prophylaxes? A friend said anti-malarials made her temporarily crazy; can that happen to you?
Know the enemy: what is malaria?
Malaria occurs when a parasite from the species Plasmodium infects a person's red blood cells. Malaria is endemic to areas where the Anopheles mosquito (that carries the disease) occurs – usually in hot humid climates.

Dr. Oyeyemi Olusegun Adeniyi further say, The cycle of malaria starts when a female Anopheles mosquito bites a person with malaria and ingests blood containing malarial parasites. When the mosquito bites another person, the parasites are injected into the body along with the mosquito's saliva.

Once in the body, the parasites circulate in the bloodstream until they reach the liver, where they multiply and mature over an average of 1 to 2 weeks.

Thereafter the parasites leave the liver and enter the blood stream and infect red blood cells, where they multiply and eventually cause the infected cells to rupture. The parasites released from the ruptured red blood cells infect even more red blood cells, setting off the cycle once more.

If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs.

What to look out for: malaria symptoms
The first symptoms usually appear between 7 and 10days after the patient was bitten and are very similar to that of the flu – fever, chills, muscle pain and headaches.

After a few days, the typical cyclical symptoms of malaria (or periodic attacks) may occur – chills, followed firstly by a high fever, and them by profuse sweating.

Malaria may also present with unusual symptoms such as abdominal pain and nausea. In rare cases there may not be the typical fever. Any symptom of illness after visiting a tropical country with malaria should therefore alert one to the possibility that one may indeed have malaria.
In severe cases the patient may experience convulsions or go into a coma.
The different types of malaria.

There are four species of the parasite that cause malaria: Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae. P. falciparum is by far the most deadly type of malaria infection and in Africa it is also the most common variety.

Medicine to prevent malaria:
Before going to a malaria area, it is very important to get updated information on whether prophylaxis is required and what the current recommendations are.
It is best to seek advice from health professionals who specialise in the requirements of travellers. The individual choice of anti-malarials should be decided on in consultation with a health care professional who will take your past medical history, the side-effects of medications and the specific requirements of your itinerary into consideration before recommending the most appropriate anti-malarial.

What do you do if you are in the middle of nowhere and suspect you might have malaria?

It is not advisable to enter a remote area with a high risk of malaria and not be prepared. If you do not want to use prophylaxes, you can get a malaria test kit and - medication that you can administer yourself. However, Dr. Oyeyemi Olusegun Adeniyi from Save A Life Foundation warns that one should not be lured into a sense of security if you have a test kit and medication. If you test positive for malaria, it is advised you make your way to the nearest medical facility, as complications may still arise requiring further medical help despite doing everything correctly.
Malaria, especially P. falciparum malaria, is a medical emergency requiring treatment - ideally monitored in hospital for 24 to 48 hours to ensure that complications do not occur.

Malaria test kits:
A malaria home test kit can be used to test yourself for the disease if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms.
The test is easy to perform and test results are accurate.
If the tests are performed early on in the illness they may initially test negative and should be repeated every 12 hours if one remains unwell.
It is important to note that the test kits only test for P. falciparum, which is the deadly strain of malaria, and any other strains will test negative. However, says Oyeyemi, the other strains are not as harmful and one will be able to seek further medical advice and testing should the malaria self test device continue to test negative.

The different types of malaria
There are four species of the parasite that cause malaria: Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae. P. falciparum is by far the most deadly type of malaria infection and in Africa it is also the most common variety.   
   
Courtesy: Dr Oyeyemi Olusegun Adeniyi for HWN Africa.