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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : April 25, 2019 12:52 PM IST
Despite of malaria being a preventable and treatable disease, a child dies every two minutes due to this condition globally. © Shutterstock
Malaria, like immunization, is another success story of India. The country has been able to bring down the number of malaria cases by 3 million in 2017, says WHO's World Malaria Report 2018. This was a 24 per cent decline from the previous year at a time when the global instances were rising. India's success story can be attributed to various factors starting from scaling up treatment, diagnostic measures, and monitoring to training health workers and increasing the availability of medicines and medicated bed-nets. With the motive of empowering more countries and communities to achieve success in reducing the burden of malaria, World Malaria Day is celebrated every year on the 25th of April. This year, the theme of this campaign is 'Zero malaria starts with me'. It aims to educate people about this mosquito-borne disease and provide the resources needed to prevent and treat this condition.
Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites and transmitted through a female mosquito known as Anopheles. It bites you generally between 9 PM to 5 AM. If you are suffering from malaria, you will experience symptoms like high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, diarrhoea, jaundice, and muscle pain. Malaria can also cause seizure, confusion, and kidney failure. It has been noticed that children with severe malaria also suffer from anaemia. In fact, in rare cases, it can lead to cerebral malaria causing damage to their brain. These symptoms generally manifest between 10 days to 4 weeks of getting infected.
Malaria also transmits through blood transfusion, sharing needles, and from an infected mother to the unborn child. As we celebrate World Malaria Day today, we share some essential malaria facts that you need to be aware of.
There are 5 types of malaria parasites namely Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium knowlesi. Each of these is responsible for causing some kind of malaria (mild or severe). If not treated, malaria can be fatal.
Known for causing most-malaria related deaths globally, P. falciparum multiplies very quickly. It is commonly found in Africa, and is responsible for causing severe blood loss and clogged blood vessels. Malaria caused by this parasite is considered as most dangerous among others. It does not have a fixed structure and continuously undergoes change during the course of its life cycle.
This parasite is considered less virulent than Plasmodium falciparum. Most commonly found in Asia and Latin America, this protozoal species is believed to be of the African origin. it can remain dormant for a long time and then wake up to infect your blood months or years after you got bitten by the infected mosquito. This parasite can cause severe infection that can lead to death.
Malaria caused by this parasitic protozoon is called benign malaria . It is also known as quartan fever and quartan malaria as it causes moderate fever that keeps on coming and going at around 3 days' interval. It does harm your body but is not as dangerous as the other two varieties mentioned above. Its incubation period in the human host body ranges from 16 to 59 days.
Commonly found in tropical Africa and New Guinea, Plasmodium ovale is a parasitic protozoon that is responsible for causing tertian malaria in humans. Compared to the infections caused by the first two parasites already mentioned, it is rare. According to scientists, P. Ovale is found to be consisting of two subspecies namely P. ovalecurtisi and P. ovalewallikeri.
Commonly found in Southeast Asia, this parasite replicates in a cycle of 24 hours. This rapid replication rate results in high levels of parasite in the blood causing rapid clinical deterioration of the patient s condition. In few cases, it leads to multiple organ failure.
The only way you can prevent malaria is by saving yourself from mosquito bites. Cover your skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts, apply mosquito repellents on your skin, and sleep under a net in order to avoid those bites. Drugs like chloroquine, quinidine and quinine among others are used to treat malaria. You can use these natural remedies alongside your medicines to manage the symptoms of malaria.
Cinnamon: Having antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, cinnamon can potentially help you manage the symptoms of malaria. To use it effectively, mix cinnamon and black pepper in hot water and drink it twice a day. You can also add honey in this mixture to enhance taste.
Turmeric: This super spice contains anti-oxidant and antimicrobial properties. The harmful toxins that build up in the body can be effectively removed by turmeric. Additionally, its anti-inflammatory properties help reduce malaria symptoms like joint and muscle pain. Add it in a glass of milk and drink the mixture regularly at night.
Orange juice: Orange is jam-packed with vitamin C, which is known to boost your immunity. If you are suffering from malaria, drink a glass of orange juice in between your meals to reduce the symptoms of malaria infection quickly.
Ginger: Having anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, ginger is considered to be a very good option for signs of malaria like body pain and nausea. To have it right, add ginger and honey in hot water and drink it twice a day.
Fenugreek seeds: In people suffering from malaria, intermittent fever makes them very weak. Fenugreek seeds helps reduce that weakness and offer fast recovery. These seeds are also known for boosting immunity that help in fighting against malarial parasite effectively.
