Malaria

Malaria is caused by a bite from a mosquito infected with parasites. That can infect people's red blood cells. The parasite is spread to people by the bites of infected mosquitoes.

Causes

A bite from a parasite-infected mosquito causes malaria. There are five species of Plasmodium (P.) parasites that infect people.

P. vivax and P. malariae occur all over the tropical regions of the world. P. ovale is found in western Africa, and P. knowlesi is found in Southeast Asia.

Infection with P. vivax, P. malariae, or P. ovale is usually not life-threatening, and a person may recover in a month without treatment. But infection with P. knowlesi may be fatal.

P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale, and P. knowlesi are generally not as drug-resistant as P. falciparum.

P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. knowlesi may stay in the liver, requiring further treatment with medicine to prevent relapses.

P. falciparum is found mostly in the tropics and subtropics (near the equator).

Symptoms

Fever.

Chills.

Headache.

Sweats.

Fatigue.

Nausea and vomiting.

Treatment

Whether the medicine is being used to prevent or to treat malaria.

Your condition (such as your age or whether you are pregnant).

How sick you are from malaria.

Geographic location where you were exposed to malaria.

Whether the malaria parasite may be resistant to certain medicines.

Side effects of the medicine.

Vaccination

Scientists are studying malaria vaccines to see whether the vaccines are effectively preventing malaria infection. But no vaccine has been approved to prevent malaria.1, 5 Work continues on improving vaccines for preventing malaria.