Therapy Analysis - Malaria
Malaria - causes of malaria
Fever, shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), vomiting, anaemia, haemoglobinuria and convulsions set in as the body attempts to fight off the infection...Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Plasmodium, with four species causing disease in humans: P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. vivax. P. falciparum causes the acute form of malaria and is responsible for 80% of infections and 90% of deaths. Female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles are the primary hosts and transmission vectors of the disease.
Once bitten by an infected mosquito, the Plasmodium sporozoites enter the blood stream and within minutes migrate to the liver. In the liver the Plasmodium differentiates to yield thousands of merozoites, which then rupture from the hepatic host cells, re-enter the blood stream and infect red blood cells. The Plasmodium continues to multiply within the red blood cells, periodically breaking out and infecting new cells. It is at this point, 9 to 14 days after the infectious mosquito bite, that the immune system is triggered for the first time. Fever, shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), vomiting, anaemia, haemoglobinuria and convulsions set in as the body attempts to fight off the infection.
Stealth is the parasite's greatest asset. The majority of the Plasmodium's life cycle is spent within liver and red blood cells, protected from the immune system. Even when the body attempts to destroy the infected blood cells, an adhesive protein displayed on the surface of infected red blood cells, Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1), causes the cells to adhere to the walls of small blood vessels, sequestering them from passage through the spleen and circulatory system. Without treatment, the blockage of these small blood vessels may lead to permanent damage of the brain and other vital organs, often resulting in coma and death. Occasionally people who recover from malaria will experience relapses of the disease. This is due to the existence of P. vivax and P. ovale sporozoites, which differentiate into hypnozoites within the liver, rather than merozoites. The hyponozoites can remain dormant within liver cells for many years and pose a frequent risk of reinfection.
