Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Almost 3 in 10 young kids may have malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa

Almost three out of ten children in 13 Sub-Saharan Africa countries are infected with malaria, with older under-five children living in large families with low incomes in rural areas being most vulnerable, according to a ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

What do you know about malaria? Symptoms, treatment and prevention

Malaria is caused by a single-celled parasite of the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans most commonly through mosquito bites. The malaria parasites enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver. When ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

The search for a malaria vaccine

Our battle with malaria has lasted thousands of years. We need better vaccines or we risk losing, according to UNSW Sydney researchers.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Malaria vaccine gets green light for use in Ghana

A malaria vaccine developed by Britain's Oxford University is to be used in Ghana, the first time it has received regulatory clearance anywhere in the world.

Medical research

Resistance-fighting antimalarial drug candidate enters the clinic

A new antimalarial drug candidate, discovered through a longstanding collaboration between WEHI and global biopharmaceutical company MSD has entered Phase 1 clinical testing in healthy participants. The candidate drug inhibits ...

page 1 from 40

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma or death. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be transmitted by humans. Severe disease is largely caused by Plasmodium falciparum while the disease caused by Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium malariae is generally a milder disease that is rarely fatal. Plasmodium knowlesi is a zoonosis that causes malaria in macaques but can also infect humans.

Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water (where mosquitoes breed). Despite a clear need, no vaccine offering a high level of protection currently exists. Efforts to develop one are ongoing. A number of medications are also available to prevent malaria in travelers to malaria-endemic countries (prophylaxis).

A variety of antimalarial medications are available. Severe malaria is treated with intravenous or intramuscular quinine or, since the mid-2000s, the artemisinin derivative artesunate, which is superior to quinine in both children and adults. Resistance has developed to several antimalarial drugs, most notably chloroquine.

There were an estimated 225 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2009. An estimated 655,000 people died from malaria in 2010, a 5% decrease from the 781,000 who died in 2009 according to the World Health Organization's 2011 World Malaria Report, accounting for 2.23% of deaths worldwide. Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, with ~60% of deaths being young children under the age of five. Plasmodium falciparum, the most severe form of malaria, is responsible for the vast majority of deaths associated with the disease. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, and can indeed be a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development.

This text uses material from Wikipedia licensed under CC BY-SA