Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease affecting humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans (a group of single-celled microorganisms) belonging to the Plasmodium type. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue,vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.
The disease is most commonly transmitted by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces theparasites from the mosquito's saliva into a person's blood. The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce. Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be spread by humans. Most deaths are caused by P. falciparum because P. vivax,P. ovale, and P. malariae generally cause a milder form of malaria. The species P. knowlesi rarely causes disease in humans.[1] Malaria is typically diagnosed by the microscopic examination of blood using blood films, or with antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests. Methods that use the polymerase chain reaction to detect the parasite's DNA have been developed, but are not widely used in areas where malaria is common due to their cost and complexity.
The disease is widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions that exist in a broad band around the equator. This includes much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 2015, there were 214 million cases of malaria worldwide resulting in an estimated 438,000 deaths, 90% of which occurred in Africa. Rates of disease have decreased from 2000 to 2015 by 37%, but increased from 2014 during which there were 198 million cases. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty and has a major negative effect on economic development. In Africa, it is estimated to result in losses of US$12 billion a year due to increased healthcare costs, lost ability to work, and negative effects on tourism
We researched this topic for you and found the following best online resources. They are categorized into basic, advanced, and research level based on the extent of information you need. You will be taken to the respective websites by pressing on the links below.
Basic information:
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000621.htm medline plus malaria
http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/malaria.html kids health malaria
http://www.healthline.com/health/malaria healthline malaria
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/malaria/pages/introduction.aspx nhs uk malaria
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/malaria better health malaria
http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/condition/getcondition/malaria canada.ca malaria
http://www.healthcentral.com/encyclopedia/408/347.htmlcachedsimilarmalaria health central malaria
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/malaria/home/ovc-20167984 mayo clinic malaria
Advanced information:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs094/en/ who malaria fact sheet updated april 2016
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150670.php medical news today malaria: causes, symptoms and treatments
http://www.malariasite.com/ malaria site: all about malaria
http://patient.info/health/malaria-leaflet patient malaria
http://nvbdcp.gov.in/malaria-new.html national vector borne disease control programme malaria
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/malaria/article_em.htm emedicine health malaria
https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/malaria/ lab tests online malaria
http://www.genome.jp/kegg-bin/show_pathway?ko05144+k05099 genome kegg pathway malaria
https://www.britannica.com/science/malaria britannica malaria
Research:
bodi jm, nsibu cn, aloni mn, lukute gn, kunuanuna ts, tshibassu pm, pakasa n. black water fever associated with acute renal failure among congolese children in kinshasa. saudi j kidney dis transpl [serial online] 2014 [cited 2016 aug 20];25:1352-8. available from: http://www.sjkdt.org/text.asp?2014/25/6/1352/144326
http://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1756-3305-3-105 investigating the evolution of apoptosis in malaria parasites: the importance of ecology by laura c pollitt et al., parasites & vectors20103:105 doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-3-105
olliaro p l, taylor w r. developing artemisinin based drug combinations for the treatment of drug resistant falciparum malaria: a review. j postgrad med [serial online] 2004 [cited 2016 aug 20];50:40-4. available from: http://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?2004/50/1/40/6652
jadhav p, shah r, jadhav m. important advances in malaria vaccine research. chron young sci [serial online] 2012 [cited 2016 aug 20];3:111-20. available from: http://www.cysonline.org/text.asp?2012/3/2/111/98676
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2014.00275/full review article front. pharmacol., 19 december 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2014.00275 antimicrobial peptides: a new class of antimalarial drugs? by nuno vale et al,
tripathy v, reddy b m. present status of understanding on the g6pd deficiency and natural selection. j postgrad med [serial online] 2007 [cited 2016 aug 20];53:193-202. available from: http://www.jpgmonline.com/text.asp?2007/53/3/193/33867
http://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-7-s1-s4 integrated vector management for malaria control by john c beier et al., malaria journal20087(suppl 1):s4 doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-7-s1-s4
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ipid/2009/278246/ momar ndao, “diagnosis of parasitic diseases: old and new approaches,” interdisciplinary perspectives on infectious diseases, vol. 2009, article id 278246, 15 pages, 2009. doi:10.1155/2009/278246
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00586/full review article front. microbiol., 17 november 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00586 novel approaches to identify protective malaria vaccine candidates by wan ni chia et al.,
http://globalizationandhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1744-8603-6-3 national and subnational hiv/aids coordination: are global health initiatives closing the gap between intent and practice? by neil spicer et al., globalization and health20106:3 doi: 10.1186/1744-8603-6-3
uzochukwu bs, ezeoke op, emma-ukaegbu u, onwujekwe oe, sibeudu ft. malaria treatment services in nigeria: a review. niger med j [serial online] 2010 [cited 2016 aug 20];51:114-9. available from: http://www.nigeriamedj.com/text.asp?2010/51/3/114/71014
http://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-11-141 a systematic review of the safety and efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine against uncomplicated plasmodium falciparummalaria during pregnancy by christine manyando et al., malaria journal201211:141 doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-11-141
http://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2875-4-8 maps of the sri lanka malaria situation preceding the tsunami and key aspects to be considered in the emergency phase and beyond by olivier jt briët et al., malaria journal20054:8 doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-4-8
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=pmc4472520&blobtype=pdf dhimal m, ahrens b, kuch u (2015) climate change and spatiotemporal distributions of vector-borne diseases in nepal – a systematic synthesis of literature. plos one 10(6): e0129869. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129869
https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-016-1386-3 chicken volatiles repel host-seeking malaria mosquitoes by kassahun t. jaleta et al., malaria journal201615:354 doi: 10.1186/s12936-016-1386-3
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa0807381#t=article efficacy of rts,s/as01e vaccine against malaria in children 5 to 17 months of age by philip bejon, ph.d., et al., n engl j med 2008; 359:2521-2532december 11, 2008doi: 10.1056/nejmoa0807381
Other helpful resources(support groups):
https://www.malarianomore.org/pages/what-is-malaria malaria no more
http://www.malaria.org/ malaria foundation international
http://www.rollbackmalaria.org/ roll back malaria
https://www.againstmalaria.com/ against malaria foundation
https://www.pmi.gov/ presidents malaria initiative
http://www.malariazeroalliance.org/ malaria zero alliance
Related videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oedhe4mpemc malaria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2-xtlhbf_4 malaria lifecycle animation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyprqpm1rhi malaria - plasmodium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvltohcmxvy hhmi -- life cycle of malaria parasite in human host
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woio-g1hiso the malaria life cycle explained. should interest a lot of people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqml6xqcksu malaria pathophysiology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyprqpm1rhi malaria - plasmodium
Presentations/quiz/newspaper articles:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-37125913 bbc news tv presenter charlie webster brought out of rio malaria coma
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/19/malaria-almost-killed-this-u-k-anchorwoman-in-rio.html the daily beast malaria almost killed this u.k. anchorwoman in rio
http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/what-malaria-symptoms-treatments-how-8656227 mirror how to avoid catching malaria and what to do if you get bitten by a mosquito
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-191238/i-regret-taking-malaria-pills.html daily mail 'i regret not taking malaria pills'
http://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/701804/where-you-could-catch-malaria-world-map-shows-risk-highly-contagious-disease express where could you catch malaria? world map shows risk of 'highly contagious' disease
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/policy/nppa-cuts-prices-of-malaria-hiv-cancer-drugs-by-up-to-45/article9008457.ece the hindu bussiness line nppa cuts prices of malaria, hiv, cancer drugs by up to 45%
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/health-officials-step-up-vigil-as-malaria-cases-rise/article9010402.ece the hindu health officials step up vigil as malaria cases rise
http://www.hindustantimes.com/bhopal/mp-dengue-malaria-cases-sting-state-on-nets-campaign/story-trzctyqbbzht3acws8u8fp.html the hindustan times mp: dengue, malaria cases sting state on nets campaign
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/762e6533-e7f2-99df-34431f9e83eb5ed8/ scientific american fighting malaria mosquitoes with mosquitoes
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/08/malaria-resurgence-of-a-deadly-disease/305755/ the atlantic malaria: resurgence of a deadly disease