MALARIA DAY A life-threatening disease, Malaria has posed as a threat to tropical communities and non-endemic nations as well as a danger to tourism. Though the mortality rate of malaria has significantly reduced by 62% between 2000 and 2015, according to the WHO, it can still be considered as a potentially dangerous parasitic disease. Thus April 25 every year is marked as the World Malaria Day as a means to spread awareness about this disease.
WHAT CAUSES MALARIA?
The MALARIA DAY infection spreads among human beings through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria is caused by any of the five species of the genus plasmodium. A plasmodium infected mosquito when bites a human host releases the parasite into the bloodstream that settles inactively in the liver. With no significant symptoms noticeable for about 10 days, the liver releases newly multiplied Plasmodium parasites that infect the red blood cells. Some inactive parasites may remain in the liver in an inactive form resulting in the recurrence of the disease.
SYMPTOMS OF MALARIA
Commonly found symptoms in majority of the Malaria patients are MALARIA DAY-
- Intermittent fever with sweating and chills,
- Phases of cold, hot and sweating stage,
- Muscle Pain,
- Headache,
- Vomiting,
- Diarrhea etc.
Malaria also mimics several diseases and might have a vast number of symptoms ranging from a dry cough to acute gastroenteritis.
HOW TO PREVENT MALARIA
Some of the steps that can effectively MALARIA DAY prevent malarial infection are-
- Mosquitoes are highly active during dawn and dusk. Thus people traveling to endemic regions must avoid mosquito bites by remaining fully covered with clothes, using mosquito repellent and nets to sleep, and avoiding travel during the dark.
- Infection in pregnant women can be prevented or treated only by using the drug Mefloquine.
- People traveling to endemic areas must consume anti-malarial drugs 2 weeks to 2 days in advance of travel.
- Local authorities must ensure that water in endemic areas isn’t allowed to stagnate. They should also spray the breeding places of mosquitoes with insecticides and medicines.
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Treatment of malaria requires a proper and MALARIA DAY correct diagnosis to detect the type of parasite that has infected the patient. Generally doctors suggest certain blood tests to detect the presence of parasites in the bloodstream and identify if the parasites are resistant to certain drugs.
Once the exact information is gathered, the doctors start treatment with anti-malarial drugs like ACT (Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies) which is a combination of multiple drugs against malarial parasites. In some cases Chloroquine is used when the patient is sensitive to other drugs but most malarial MALARIA DAY parasites are resistant to it hence its use is extremely less.
The best way to treat malaria is to prevent oneself from being infected as “prevention is always better than cure.”
