Malari A Recognizable Disease Around The Globe - 2390 Words

Malaria is a recognizable disease around the globe. While significant efforts have been made since antimalarial treatments were introduced in the 1940s, the disease continues as an endemic world-wide. Ongoing efforts by global public health leaders and scientists continue to track disease patterns, causes, and effects on health outcomes to continuously work toward protecting and saving lives. Although current prevention efforts such as insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) have impacted the rates of malaria, other advances are being made to control and eradicate malaria. Novel interventions such as spatial targeting for predicting risk in endemic geographic regions, using microbes to eliminate mosquito†¦show more content†¦Cause of Disease Malaria is caused by a parasite (e.g., Plasmodium) that infects the female anopheles mosquito, which in turn feeds on humans as the host. Individuals are infected with the Plasmodium parasite via vector-borne transmission, but malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusions, mother to unborn child (e.g. vertical transmission), or as a result of sharing needles contaminated with the blood from an infected individual. The symptoms of malaria can vary, with the most common being fever, malaise, weakness, gastrointestinal complaints (e.g., nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea), neurologic complaints, headaches, chills, cough, back pain, and myalgia (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Malaria can be serious or even fatal to a person who is infected. Identification and treatment of malaria needs to be done rapidly through laboratory testing and treatment with the use of antimalarial medications. Influence of Agent The agent in malaria is one of a pervasive parasite - Plasmodium sporozoites. The sporozoites collect in the salivary ducts of the female anopheles mosquito and are then transmitted to the next host (Kappe, Buscaglia, Nussenzweig, 2004). Transmission of sporozoites through salivation of the female anopheles mosquito is unrecognizable, which makes it to be such a difficult disease to control. Plasmodium sporozoites attach to the salivary glands by different micronemal proteins that