The responsibility for the 200 to 500 million annual cases of malaria, a potentially life threatening condition, can be placed solely on a tiny one-celled parasite, Plasmodium sp. Infected mosquitoes transmit the disease-inducing organism from person to person throughout the tropics. The initial flu-like symptoms of malaria often keep those infected from seeking medical assistance. Any fever-inducing illness developed while traveling in the tropics, or that manifests within 12 months of visiting such a region should be checked out by a physician.
Uncomplicated malaria
Due to the short duration (6 to ten hours) of symptoms associated with uncomplicated malaria, and their similarity to many other, more common and less threatening illnesses, this type of malaria is seldom reported. An infected person first experiences the sensation of cold, accompanied by shivering, and followed by fever, nausea, headaches, and occasionally, seizures in children. The final stage consists of profuse sweating, a return to a normal body temperature, and fatigue. According to the Centers for Disease Control, these attacks will often continue every second to third day until your immune system is able to eliminate the parasites.
Severe malaria
Plasmodium infections that become complicated by blood disorders, organ failures, or metabolism abnormalities fall under severe malaria. The World Health Organization lists the common initial symptoms to include dizziness, shortness of breath, and severe abdominal pain. Each of these symptoms alludes to the serious underlying internal issues that result in unconsciousness, the destruction of erythrocytes, respiratory distress syndrome, low blood pressure, kidney failure, and hypoglycemia. A medical emergency, severe malaria should be treated rapidly and aggressively.
Relapses
It not uncommon for a patient to have recovered from a malarial infection once to suffer additional relapses several months to years later. An exceptional case was reported by researchers at the Institut Pasteur de Tunis in France in which a 50-year old man experienced a malaria relapse 20 years after the initial infection. Two species of Plasmodium produce a life stage that may remain dormant in the liver, only to become revived at a later time. A treatment is now available, which may be administered during the first attack that will lessen the chance of future relapses.
Other manifestations
Less commonly reported symptoms of malarial infections include the onset of neurological defects including difficulties in speech, blindness, deafness, and difficulty in performing controlled movements of the extremities. These symptoms are most often observed in children. Malaria infections may also induce premature delivery in pregnant mothers. And in rare instances, malaria has caused the spleen to rupture, allowing large amounts of blood to enter the body cavity inducing pain that manifests in the abdomen or left shoulder.
CDC malaria hotline
The low incidence of malaria in the United States means that most physicians have had little clinical exposure to it. In response to this, the Centers for Disease Control maintains a hot-line dedicated to providing guidance in the diagnosis and management of malaria to health care providers and citizens. Consultants can be reached by calling 770-488-7788 weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.
