Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions.

It infects between 300 and 500 million people every year and causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public-health problem.

The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium.

The most serious forms of the disease are caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, but other related species (Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae) can also infect humans.

This group of human-pathogenic Plasmodium species are usually referred to as malaria parasites. Malaria parasites are transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes.

The parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that include fever, anemia, chills, flu-like illness, and in severe cases, coma and death.

Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites with mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito control by spraying insecticides inside houses and draining standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs..

For more information about the topic Malaria, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Vector (biology) — Traditionally in medicine, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one ...  > read more

Infectious disease — In medicine, infectious disease or communicable disease is disease caused by a biological agent such as by a virus, bacterium or parasite. This is ...  > read more

Tropical disease — ropical diseases are infectious diseases that either occur uniquely in tropical and subtropical regions (which is rare) or, more commonly, are either ...  > read more

Mosquito — The mosquito is a member of the family Culicidae; these insects have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and long legs. The ...  > read more

Related Stories

Mosquito Immune System: Same Immune Factors Used To Fight Malaria Parasite And Infectious Pathogens (June 12, 2006) — Mosquitoes employ the same immune factors to fight off bacterial pathogens as they do to kill malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg ...  > read more

Protein Plays Key Role In Transmitting Deadly Malaria Parasite To Humans (June 2, 2008) — The transmembrane MAEBL is critical for completing the life cycle of malaria parasites in mosquitoes, allowing the insects to transmit the potentially deadly infection to humans, researchers have ...  > read more

Bites From Mosquitoes Not Infected With Malaria May Protect Against Future Infection (May 16, 2007) — A new study suggests that bites from mosquitoes not infected with malaria may trigger an immune response limiting parasite development following bites from infected ...  > read more

Feasibility Of Preventing Malaria Parasite From Becoming Sexually Mature Demonstrated (June 7, 2008) — Researchers have demonstrated the possibility of preventing the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which is responsible for more than a million malaria deaths a year, from becoming ...  > read more

Gene That Helps Mosquitoes Fight Off Malaria Parasite Identified (October 25, 2005) — Researchers have identified a gene in mosquitoes that helps the insects to fight off infection by the Plasmodium parasite, which causes malaria. Anopheles mosquitoes transmit the malaria parasite to ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

Our Changing Climate