Malaria:
Malaria is a life-threatening disease spread to humans by some types of mosquitoes. It is mostly found in tropical countries. It is preventable and curable. Infants, children under 5 years, pregnant women, travellers and people with HIV or AIDS are at higher risk of severe infection.
Malaria mostly spreads to people through the bites of some infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. Blood transfusion and contaminated needles may also transmit malaria. The first symptoms may be mild, similar to many febrile illnesses, and difficulty to recognize as malaria. Left untreated, P. falciparum malaria can progress to severe illness and death within 24 hours.
Symptoms:
The most common early symptoms of malaria are fever, headache and chills. Symptoms usually start within 10–15 days of getting bitten by an infected mosquito.
Symptoms may be mild for some people, especially for those who have had a malaria infection before. Because some malaria symptoms are not specific, getting tested early is important. Severe symptoms include:
- extreme tiredness and fatigue
- impaired consciousness
- multiple convulsions
- difficulty breathing
- dark or bloody urine
- jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin)
- abnormal bleeding.
Diagnosis:
CBC:
This test detects parasite nucleic acids and identifies the species of malaria parasite. Complete blood count (CBC). This checks for anaemia or evidence of other possible infections. Anaemia sometimes develops in people with malaria, because the parasites damage red blood cells.
PCR testing:
PCR tests, or polymerase chain reaction tests, are also available to detect malaria parasites.
PCR is most useful for confirming the species of malarial parasite after the diagnosis has been established by either smear microscopy or RDT. Serology detects antibodies against malaria parasites, using either indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
PCR is highly sensitive (2–5 parasites/μL) compared with RDTs (>100 parasites/μL) and microscopy (50–500 parasites/μL). Therefore, PCR is increasingly used for quality control and are useful tools for epidemiological studies mapping sub-microscopic malaria.
