MALARIA
Malaria is one of the most common sicknesses suffered by people. Why is this so? The answer is not far-fetched. It is because malaria itself starts normally from fever and fever is a symptom for a whole lot of sicknesses!
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infection of the blood caused by a parasite called plasmodium and it causes chills and high fever. The mosquito sucks up the blood of an infected person and injects them into the blood of another person as it goes to suck the blood. The most common and important infections are from plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax.
P. falciparum causes more severe symptoms because it destroys the red blood cells so quickly that they block the blood vessels in major organs, such as the kidney, etc.
Symptoms
A person infected with malaria goes through a series of signs (symptoms):
1. It begins with shivering or chills.
2. This is followed by high fever, often 40oC and above. The person becomes weak and delirious. The fever can last for hours or even days and sometime drops.
3. There is sweating dew to a drop in temperature.
4. There may be weakness, severe headache, nausea and vomiting.
Untreated malaria can cause jaundice-a yellow coloring of the skin and eyes and anaemia.
It can also cause brain damage and symptoms here include high fever, severe headache, confusion, delirium and drowsiness, which can result to coma and convulsions.
TREATMENT
Malaria can be treated with selected drugs.
The first treatment is, if you suspect malaria or have repeated fevers, go to a health center if possible and not a road side kiosk.
Malaria is one of the most common sicknesses suffered by people. Why is this so? The answer is not far-fetched. It is because malaria itself starts normally from fever and fever is a symptom for a whole lot of sicknesses!
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infection of the blood caused by a parasite called plasmodium and it causes chills and high fever. The mosquito sucks up the blood of an infected person and injects them into the blood of another person as it goes to suck the blood. The most common and important infections are from plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax.
P. falciparum causes more severe symptoms because it destroys the red blood cells so quickly that they block the blood vessels in major organs, such as the kidney, etc.
Symptoms
A person infected with malaria goes through a series of signs (symptoms):
1. It begins with shivering or chills.
2. This is followed by high fever, often 40oC and above. The person becomes weak and delirious. The fever can last for hours or even days and sometime drops.
3. There is sweating dew to a drop in temperature.
4. There may be weakness, severe headache, nausea and vomiting.
Untreated malaria can cause jaundice-a yellow coloring of the skin and eyes and anaemia.
It can also cause brain damage and symptoms here include high fever, severe headache, confusion, delirium and drowsiness, which can result to coma and convulsions.
TREATMENT
Malaria can be treated with selected drugs.
The first treatment is, if you suspect malaria or have repeated fevers, go to a health center if possible and not a road side kiosk.
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