Malaria
Malaria
Malaria
Malaria
ICD-10 B50-B54
ICD-9 084
OMIM 248310
DiseasesDB 7728
MedlinePlus 000621
MeSH C03.752.250.552
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused
by protists (a type of microorganism) of the genus Plasmodium. It begins with a bite from an
infected female mosquito (Anopheles Mosquito), which introduces the protists via its saliva
into the circulatory system, and ultimately to the liver where they mature and reproduce. The
disease causes symptoms that typically include fever and headache, which in severe cases can
progress to coma or death. Malaria is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a
broad band around the equator, including much ofSub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and
the Americas.
Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be transmitted by humans. The vast majority of
deaths are caused by P. falciparum while P. vivax,P. ovale, and P. malariae cause a generally
milder form of malaria that is rarely fatal. The zoonotic species P. knowlesi, prevalent in
Southeast Asia, causes malaria in macaques but can also cause severe infections in humans.
Malaria is prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions because rainfall, warm temperatures,
and stagnant waters provide habitats ideal for mosquito larvae. Disease transmission can be
reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of mosquito nets and insect repellents,
or with mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water.
Malaria is typically diagnosed by the microscopic examination of blood using blood films, or
with antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests. Modern techniques that use the polymerase chain
reaction to detect the parasite's DNA have also been developed, but these are not widely used
in malaria-endemic areas due to their cost and complexity. The World Health
Organization has estimated that in 2010, there were 216 million documented cases of malaria.
That year, between 655,000 and 1.2 million people died from the disease (roughly 20003000
per day),[1] many of whom were children in Africa. The actual number of deaths is not known
with certainty, as accurate data is unavailable in many rural areas, and many cases are
undocumented. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty and may also be a major
hindrance to economic development.
Despite a need, no effective vaccine currently exists, although efforts to develop one are
ongoing. Several medications are available to prevent malaria in travellers to malaria-
endemic countries (prophylaxis). A variety of antimalarial medications are available. Severe
malaria is treated with intravenousor intramuscular quinine or, since the mid-2000s,
the artemisinin derivative artesunate, which is superior to quinine in both children and adults
and is given in combination with a second anti-malarial such as mefloquine. Resistance has
developed to several antimalarial drugs; for example,chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum has
spread to most malarial areas, and emerging resistance to artemisinin has become a problem
in some parts of Southeast Asia.
Contents
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The signs and symptoms of malaria typically begin 825 days following
infection;[2] however, symptoms may occur later in those who have taken antimalarial
medications as prevention.[3] Initial manifestations of the diseasecommon to all malaria
speciesare similar to flu-like symptoms,[4]and can resemble other conditions such
as septicemia, gastroenteritis, and viral diseases.[3] The presentation may
include headache, fever,shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), vomiting, hemolytic
anemia, jaundice, hemoglobinuria, retinal damage,[5] and convulsions. Approximately 30% of
people however will no longer have a fever upon presenting to a health care facility. Owing
to the non-specific nature of disease presentation, diagnosis of malaria in non-endemic
countries requires a high degree of suspicion, which might be elicited by any of the
following: recent travel history, splenomegaly (enlarged spleen), fever without localizing
signs, thrombocytopenia, and hyperbilirubinemia combined with a normal peripheral blood
leukocyte count.[3]
Complications
There are several serious complications of malaria. Among these is the development
of respiratory distress, which occurs in up to 25% of adults and 40% of children with
severe P. falciparum malaria. Possible causes include respiratory compensation ofmetabolic
acidosis, noncardiogenic pulmonary oedema, concomitant pneumonia, and
severe anaemia. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may develop in 525% in
adults and up to 29% of pregnant women but it is rare in young children.[8]Coinfection of
HIV with malaria increases mortality.[9]
Malaria in pregnant women is an important cause of stillbirths, infant mortality and low birth
weight,[10] particularly inP. falciparum infection, but also with P. vivax.[11]
Cause
The life cycle of malaria parasites: A mosquito causes infection by taking a blood meal. First,
sporozoites enter the bloodstream, and migrate to the liver. They infect liver cells, where they
multiply into merozoites, rupture the liver cells, and return to the bloodstream. Then, the
merozoites infect red blood cells, where they develop into ring forms, trophozoites and
schizonts that in turn produce further merozoites. Sexual forms are also produced, which, if
taken up by a mosquito, will infect the insect and continue the life cycle.
In the life cycle of Plasmodium, a female Anopheles mosquito (the definitive host) transmits
a motile infective form (called the sporozoite) to a vertebrate host such as a human (the
secondary host), thus acting as a transmission vector. A sporozoite travels through the blood
vessels to liver cells (hepatocytes), where it reproduces asexually (tissue schizogony),
producing thousands of merozoites. These infect new red blood cells and initiate a series of
asexual multiplication cycles (blood schizogony) that produce 8 to 24 new infective
merozoites, at which point the cells burst and the infective cycle begins anew.[17] In a process
calledgametocytogenesis, other merozoites develop into immature gametes, or gametocytes.
When a fertilised mosquito bites an infected person, gametocytes are taken up with the blood
and mature in the mosquito gut. The male and female gametocytes fuse and
form zygotes (ookinetes), which develop into new sporozoites. The sporozoites migrate to the
insect's salivary glands, ready to infect a new vertebrate host. The sporozoites are injected
into the skin, alongside saliva, when the mosquito takes a subsequent blood meal. This type
of transmission is occasionally referred to as anterior station transfer.[18]
Only female mosquitoes feed on blood; male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar, and thus do not
transmit the disease. The females of the Anopheles genus of mosquito prefer to feed at night.
They usually start searching for a meal at dusk, and will continue throughout the night until
taking a meal.[19] Malaria parasites can also be transmitted by blood transfusions, although
this is rare.[20]
Recurrent malaria
Symptoms of malaria can reappear (recur) after varying symptom-free periods. Depending
upon the cause, recurrence can be classified as either recrudescence, relapse, or reinfection.
Recrudescence is when symptoms return after a symptom-free period. It is caused by
parasites surviving in the blood as a result of inadequate or ineffective treatment. [21] Relapse
is when symptoms reappear after the parasites have been eliminated from blood but persist as
dormant hypnozoites in liver cells. Relapse commonly occurs between 824 weeks and is
commonly seen with P. vivax and P. ovale infections.[3] P. vivax malaria cases
in temperate areas often involve overwintering by hypnozoites, with relapses beginning the
year after the mosquito bite.[22] Reinfection means the parasite that caused the past infection
was eliminated from the body but a new parasite was introduced. Reinfection cannot readily
be distinguished from recrudescence, although recurrence of infection within two weeks of
treatment for the initial infection is typically attributed to treatment failure.[23]
Pathogenesis
Malaria infection develops via two phases: one that involves the liver (exoerythrocytic
phase), and one that involves red blood cells, or erythrocytes(erythrocytic phase). When an
infected mosquito pierces a person's skin to take a blood meal, sporozoites in the mosquito's
saliva enter the bloodstream and migrate to the liver where they infect hepatocytes,
multiplying asexually and asymptomatically for a period of 830 days.[24]
After a potential dormant period in the liver, these organisms differentiate to yield thousands
of merozoites, which, following rupture of their host cells, escape into the blood and infect
red blood cells to begin the erythrocytic stage of the life cycle.[24] The parasite escapes from
the liver undetected by wrapping itself in the cell membrane of the infected host liver cell.[25]
Within the red blood cells, the parasites multiply further, again asexually, periodically
breaking out of their host cells to invade fresh red blood cells. Several such amplification
cycles occur. Thus, classical descriptions of waves of fever arise from simultaneous waves of
merozoites escaping and infecting red blood cells.[24]
Micrograph of a placenta from a stillbirthdue to maternal malaria. H&E stain. Red blood cells
are anuclear; blue/black staining in bright red structures (red blood cells) indicate foreign
nuclei from the parasites
The parasite is relatively protected from attack by the body's immune system because for
most of its human life cycle it resides within the liver and blood cells and is relatively
invisible to immune surveillance. However, circulating infected blood cells are destroyed in
the spleen. To avoid this fate, theP. falciparum parasite displays adhesive proteins on the
surface of the infected blood cells, causing the blood cells to stick to the walls of small blood
vessels, thereby sequestering the parasite from passage through the general circulation and
the spleen.[27] The blockage of the microvasculature causes symptoms such as in placental
malaria.[28] Sequestered red blood cells can breach the bloodbrain barrier and cause cerebral
malaria.[29]
Although the red blood cell surface adhesive proteins (called PfEMP1,
for P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1) are exposed to the immune system, they
do not serve as good immune targets because of their extreme diversity; there are at least 60
variations of the protein within a single parasite and even more variants within whole parasite
populations. The parasite switches through a broad repertoire of PfEMP1 surface proteins,
thereby avoiding detection by protective antibodies.[30]
Genetic resistance
Main article: Genetic resistance to malaria
The impact of sickle cell trait on malaria immunity is of particular interest. Sickle cell trait
causes a defect in the hemoglobin molecule in the blood. Instead of retaining the biconcave
shape of a normal red blood cell, the modified hemoglobin S molecule causes the cell to
sickle or distort into a curved shape. Due to the sickle shape, the molecule is not as effective
in taking or releasing oxygen. Infection causes red cells to sickle more, and so they are
removed from circulation sooner. This reduces the frequency with which malaria parasites
complete their life cycle in the cell. Individuals who are homozygous (with two copies of the
abnormal hemoglobin beta allele) have sickle-cell anaemia, while those who are
heterozygous (with one abnormal allele and one normal allele) experience resistance to
malaria. Although the shorter life expectancy for those with the homozygous condition seems
to be unfavourable to the trait's survival, the trait is preserved because of
the benefits provided by the heterozygous form.[32][33]
Malarial hepatopathy
Liver dysfunction as a result of malaria is rare and is usually a result of a coexisting liver
condition such as viral hepatitis or chronic liver disease. The syndrome is sometimes
called malarial hepatitis, although inflammation of the liver (hepatitis) does not actually
occur. While traditionally considered a rare occurrence, malarial hepatopathy has seen an
increase, particularly in Southeast Asia and India. Liver compromise in people with malaria
correlates with a greater likelihood of complications and death.[34]
Diagnosis
In regions where laboratory tests are readily available, malaria should be suspected, and
tested for, in any unwell patient who has been in an area where malaria is endemic. In areas
that cannot afford laboratory diagnostic tests, it has become routine to use only a history of
subjective fever as the indication to treat for malariaa presumptive approach exemplified
by the common teaching "fever equals malaria unless proven otherwise". The drawback of
this practice, however, is overdiagnosis of malaria and mismanagement of non-malarial fever,
which wastes limited resources, erodes confidence in the health care system, and contributes
to drug resistance.[38] Although polymerase chain reaction-based tests have been developed,
these are not widely implemented in malaria-endemic regions as of 2012, due to their
complexity.[3]
Classification
Malaria is classified into either "severe" or "uncomplicated" by the World Health
Organization (WHO).[3] Malaria is diagnosed as severe when any of the following criteria are
present, otherwise it is considered uncomplicated.[39]
Decreased consciousness
Significant weakness such that the person is unable to walk
Inability to feed
Two or more convulsions
Low blood pressure (less than 70 mmHg in adults or 50 mmHg in children)
Breathing problems
Circulatory shock
Kidney failure or hemoglobin in the urine
Bleeding problems, or hemoglobin less than 5 g/dL
Pulmonary edema
Blood glucose less than 2.2 mmol/L (or 40 mg/dL)
Acidosis or lactate levels of greater than 5 mmol/L
A parasite level in the blood of greater than 100,000 per microlitre (L) in low-intensity
transmission areas, or 250,000 per L in high-intensity transmission areas
According to the WHO, cerebral malaria is defined as a severe P. falciparum-malaria
presenting neurological symptoms, including coma (with a Glasgow coma scale rating of
greater than 11, or aBlantyre coma scale greater than 3), or with a coma that lasts longer than
30 minutes after a seizure.[40]
Prevention
An Anopheles stephensi mosquito shortly after obtaining blood from a human (the droplet of
blood is expelled as a surplus). This mosquito is a vector of malaria, and mosquito control is
an effective way of reducing its incidence.
Methods used to prevent malaria include medications, mosquito elimination and the
prevention of bites. The presence of malaria in an area requires a combination of high human
population density, high mosquito population density and high rates of transmission from
humans to mosquitoes and from mosquitoes to humans. If any of these is lowered
sufficiently, the parasite will eventually disappear from that area, as happened in North
America, Europe and much of the Middle East. However, unless the parasite is eliminated
from the whole world, it could become re-established if conditions revert to a combination
that favours the parasite's reproduction.[41]
Many researchers argue that prevention of malaria may be more cost-effective than treatment
of the disease in the long run, but the capital costsrequired are out of reach of many of the
world's poorest people. There is a wide disparity in the costs of control (i.e. maintenance of
low endemicity) and elimination programs between countries. For example, in Chinawhose
government in 2010 announced a strategy to pursue malaria elimination in theChinese
provincesthe required investment is a small proportion of public expenditure on health. In
contrast, a similar program in Tanzania would cost an estimated one-fifth of the public health
budget.[42]
Vector control
Further information: Mosquito control
Man spraying kerosene oil in standing water, Panama Canal Zone 1912
Walls where indoor residual spraying of DDT has been applied. The mosquitoes remain on
the wall until they fall down dead on the floor.
Vector control refers to preventative methods used to decrease malaria and morbidity and
mortality by reducing the levels of transmission. For individual protection, the most effective
chemical insect repellents to reduce human-mosquito contact are those based
on DEET and picaridin.[43] Insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) and indoor residual
spraying (IRS) have been shown to be highly effective vector control interventions in
preventing malaria morbidity and mortality among children in malaria-endemic
settings.[44][45] IRS is the practice of spraying insecticides on the interior walls of homes in
malaria-affected areas. After feeding, many mosquito species rest on a nearby surface while
digesting the bloodmeal, so if the walls of dwellings have been coated with insecticides, the
resting mosquitoes can be killed before they can bite another victim and transfer the malaria
parasite.[46] As of 2006, the World Health Organization advises the use of 12 insecticides in
IRS operations, including DDT and the pyrethroids cyfluthrin and deltamethrin).[47]This
public health use of small amounts of DDT is permitted under the Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which prohibits the agricultural use of
DDT.[48]
One problem with all forms of IRS is insecticide resistance via evolution. Mosquitoes that are
affected by IRS tend to rest and live indoors, and due to the irritation caused by spraying,
their descendants tend to rest and live outdoors, meaning that they are not as affectedif
affected at allby the IRS, which greatly reduces its effectiveness as a defense
mechanism.[49]
Mosquito nets create a protective barrier against malaria-carrying mosquitoes that bite at
night.
Mosquito nets help keep mosquitoes away from people and significantly reduce infection
rates and transmission of malaria. The nets are not a perfect barrier and they are often treated
with an insecticide designed to kill the mosquito before it has time to search for a way past
the net. Insecticide-treated nets are estimated to be twice as effective as untreated nets and
offer greater than 70% protection compared with no net.[50] Between 2000 and 2008, the use
of ITNs saved the lives of an estimated 250,000 infants in Sub-Saharan Africa.[51] Although
ITNs prevent malaria, only about 13% of households in Sub-Saharan countries own
them.[52] A recommended practice for usage is to hang a large "bed net" above the center of a
bed to drape over it completely with the edges tucked in. Pyrethroid-treated nets and long-
lasting insecticide-treated nets offer the best personal protection, and are most effective when
used from dusk to dawn.[53]
Other methods
Community participation and health education strategies promoting awareness of malaria and
the importance of control measures have been successfully used to reduce the incidence of
malaria in some areas of the developing world.[54] Recognizing the disease in the early stages
can stop the disease from becoming fatal. Education can also inform people to cover over
areas of stagnant, still water, such as water tanks that are ideal breeding grounds for the
parasite and mosquito, thus cutting down the risk of the transmission between people. This is
generally used in urban areas where there are large centers of population in a confined space
and transmission would be most likely in these areas.[55] Intermittent preventive therapyis
another intervention that has been used successfully to control malaria in pregnant women
and infants,[56] and in preschool children where transmission is seasonal.[57]
Medications
Main article: Malaria prophylaxis
Several drugs, most of which are used for treatment of malaria, can be taken to prevent
contracting the disease during travel to endemic areas.Chloroquine may be used where the
parasite is still sensitive.[58] However, due to resistance one of three medications
mefloquine (Lariam),doxycycline (available generically), or the combination
of atovaquone and proguanil hydrochloride (Malarone)is frequently
needed.[58] Doxycycline and the atovaquone and proguanil combination are the best tolerated;
mefloquine is associated with death, suicide, and higher rates of neurological and psychiatric
symptoms.[58]
The prophylactic effect does not begin immediately upon starting the drugs, so people
temporarily visiting malaria-endemic areas usually begin taking the drugs one to two weeks
before arriving and should continue taking them for four weeks after leaving (with the
exception of atovaquone proguanil that only needs to be started two days prior and continued
for seven days afterwards).[59] Use of prophylactic drugs is seldom practical for full-time
residents of malaria-endemic areas, and their use is usually restricted to short-term visitors
and travellers to malarial regions. This is due to the cost of purchasing the drugs,
negative adverse effects from long-term use, and because some effective anti-malarial drugs
are difficult to obtain outside of wealthy nations.[60] The use of prophylactic drugs where
malaria-bearing mosquitoes are present may encourage the development of partial
immunity.[61]
[edit]Treatment
The treatment of malaria depends on the severity of the disease. Uncomplicated malaria may
be treated with oral medications. The most effective strategy for P. falciparum infection is the
use ofartemisinins in combination with other antimalarials (known as artemisinin-
combination therapy, or ACT), which reduces the ability of the parasite to develop resistance
to any single drug component.[62] These additional antimalarials
include amodiaquine, lumefantrine, mefloquine or sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine.[63] Another
recommended combination is dihydroartemisinin andpiperaquine.[64][65] ACT is about 90%
effective when used to treat uncomplicated malaria.[51] To treat malaria during pregnancy, the
WHO recommends the use of quinine plus clindamycin early in the pregnancy (1st trimester),
and ACT in later stages (2nd and 3rd trimesters).[66] In the 2000s (decade), malaria with
partial resistance to artemisins emerged in Southeast Asia.[67][68]
Severe malaria requires the parenteral administration of antimalarial drugs. Until the mid-
2000s the most used treatment for severe malaria was quinine, but artesunate has been shown
to be superior to quinine in both children and adults.[69] Treatment of severe malaria also
involves supportive measures that are optimally performed in a critical care unit, including
management of high fevers (hyperpyrexia) and the subsequent seizures that may result from
it, and monitoring for respiratory depression, hypoglycemia, and hypokalemia.[14] Infection
with P. vivax, P. ovale orP. malariae is usually treated on an outpatient basis (while a person
is at home). Treatment of P. vivax requires both treatment of blood stages (with chloroquine
or ACT) as well as clearance of liver forms with primaquine.[70]
Prognosis
When properly treated, people with malaria can usually expect a complete
recovery.[71] However, severe malaria can progress extremely rapidly and cause death within
hours or days.[72] In the most severe cases of the disease, fatality rates can reach 20%, even
with intensive care and treatment.[3] Over the longer term, developmental impairments have
been documented in children who have suffered episodes of severe malaria.[73]
Malaria causes widespread anemia during a period of rapid brain development, and also
direct brain damage. This neurologic damage results from cerebral malaria to which children
are more vulnerable.[73] Some survivors of cerebral malaria have an increased risk of
neurological and cognitive deficits, behavioural disorders, and epilepsy.[74] Malaria
prophylaxis was shown to improve cognitive function and school performance in clinical
trials when compared to placebo groups.[73]
Epidemiology
Based on documented cases, the WHO estimates that there were 216 million cases of malaria
in 2010 resulting in 655,000 deaths.[76] This is equivalent to roughly 2000 deaths every
day.[3] A 2012 study estimated the number of documented and undocumented deaths in 2010
was 1.24 million. The majority of cases (65%) occur in children under 15 years
old.[77][78] Pregnant women are also especially vulnerable: about 125 million pregnant women
are at risk of infection each year. In Sub-Saharan Africa, maternal malaria is associated with
up to 200,000 estimated infant deaths yearly.[10] There are about 10,000 malaria cases per
year in Western Europe, and 13001500 in the United States.[8] About 900 people died from
the disease in Europe between 1993 and 2003.[43] Both the global incidence of disease and
resulting mortality have declined in recent years. According to the WHO, deaths attributable
to malaria in 2010 were reduced by over a third from a 2000 estimate of 985,000, largely due
to the widespread use of insecticide-treated nets and artemisinin-based combination
therapies.[51]
Malaria is presently endemic in a broad band around the equator, in areas of the Americas,
many parts of Asia, and much of Africa; however, it is in Sub-Saharan Africa where 8590%
of malaria fatalities occur.[79] An estimate for 2009 reported that countries with the highest
death rate per 100,000 of population were Ivory Coast with 86.15, Angola (56.93)
and Burkina Faso (50.66).[80] An estimate for 2010 said the deadliest countries per population
were Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Mali.[78] The Malaria Atlas Project aims to map
global endemic levels of malaria, providing a means with which to determine the global
spatial limits of the disease and to assess disease burden.[81][82] This effort led to the
publication of a map of P. falciparum endemicity in 2010.[83] As of 2010, about 100 countries
have endemic malaria.[76][84] Every year, 125 million international travellers visit these
countries, and more than 30,000 contract the disease.[43]
The geographic distribution of malaria within large regions is complex, and malaria-afflicted
and malaria-free areas are often found close to each other.[85] Malaria is prevalent in tropical
and subtropical regions because of rainfall, consistent high temperatures and high humidity,
along with stagnant waters in which mosquito larvae readily mature, providing them with the
environment they need for continuous breeding.[86] In drier areas, outbreaks of malaria have
been predicted with reasonable accuracy by mapping rainfall.[87] Malaria is more common in
rural areas than in cities. For example, several cities in the Greater Mekong Subregion of
Southeast Asia are essentially malaria-free, but the disease is prevalent in many rural regions,
including along international borders and forest fringes.[88] In contrast, malaria in Africa is
present in both rural and urban areas, though the risk is lower in the larger cities.[89]
History
References to the unique periodic fevers of malaria are found throughout recorded history,
beginning in 2700 BC in China.[92] Malaria may have contributed to the decline of the Roman
Empire,[93]and was so pervasive in Rome that it was known as the "Roman fever".[94] Several
regions in ancient Rome were considered at-risk for the disease because of the favourable
conditions present for malaria vectors. This included areas such as southern Italy, the island
of Sardinia, the Pontine Marshes, the lower regions of coastal Etruria and the city
of Rome along the Tiber River. The presence of stagnant water in these places was preferred
by mosquitoes for breeding grounds. Irrigated gardens, swamp-like grounds, runoff from
agriculture, and drainage problems from road construction led to the increase of standing
water.[95]
British doctor Ronald Ross received theNobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for
his work on malaria.
The term malaria originates from Medieval Italian: mala aria "bad air"; the disease was
formerly called ague or marsh fever due to its association with swamps and
marshland.[96] Malaria was once common in most of Europe and North America,[97] where it
is no longer endemic,[98] though imported cases do occur.[99]
Malaria was the most important health hazard encountered by U.S. troops in the South Pacific
during World War II, where about 500,000 men were infected.[100] According to Joseph
Patrick Byrne, "Sixty thousand American soldiers died of malaria during the African and
South Pacific campaigns."[101] Scientific studies on malaria made their first significant
advance in 1880, when Charles Louis Alphonse Laverana French army doctor working in
the military hospital of Constantine in Algeriaobserved parasites inside the red blood cells
of infected people for the first time. He therefore proposed that malaria is caused by this
organism, the first time a protist was identified as causing disease.[102] For this and later
discoveries, he was awarded the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. A year
later, Carlos Finlay, a Cuban doctor treating people with yellow fever in Havana, provided
strong evidence that mosquitoes were transmitting disease to and from humans.[103] This work
followed earlier suggestions by Josiah C. Nott,[104] and work by Sir Patrick Manson, the
"father of tropical medicine", on the transmission of filariasis.[105]
In April 1894, a Scottish physician Sir Ronald Ross visited Sir Patrick Manson at his house
on Queen Anne Street, London. This visit was the start of four years of collaboration and
fervent research that culminated in 1898 when Ross, who was working in the Presidency
General Hospital in Calcutta, proved the complete life-cycle of the malaria parasite in
mosquitoes. He thus proved that the mosquito was the vector for malaria in humans by
showing that certain mosquito species transmit malaria to birds. He isolated malaria parasites
from the salivary glands of mosquitoes that had fed on infected birds.[106] For this work, Ross
received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Medicine. After resigning from the Indian Medical Service,
Ross worked at the newly established Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and directed
malaria-control efforts in Egypt, Panama, Greece and Mauritius.[107] The findings of Finlay
and Ross were later confirmed by a medical board headed by Walter Reed in 1900. Its
recommendations were implemented by William C. Gorgas in the health measures
undertaken during construction of the Panama Canal. This public-health work saved the lives
of thousands of workers and helped develop the methods used in future public-health
campaigns against the disease.[108]
The first effective treatment for malaria came from the bark of cinchona tree, which
contains quinine. This tree grows on the slopes of the Andes, mainly in Peru. The indigenous
peoples of Peru made a tincture of cinchona to control fever. Its effectiveness against malaria
was found and the Jesuitsintroduced the treatment to Europe around 1640; by 1677, it was
included in the London Pharmacopoeia as an antimalarial treatment.[109] It was not until 1820
that the active ingredient, quinine, was extracted from the bark, isolated and named by the
French chemists Pierre Joseph Pelletier andJoseph Bienaim Caventou.[110][111]
Quinine become the predominant malarial medication until the 1920s, when other
medications began to be developed. In the 1940s, chloroquine replaced quinine as the
treatment of both uncomplicated and severe malaria until resistance supervened, first in
Southeast Asia and South America in the 1950s and then globally in the
1980s.[112] Artemisinins, discovered by Chinese scientist Tu Youyou in the 1970s from the
plant Artemisia annua, became the recommended treatment for P. falciparum malaria,
administered in combination with other antimalarials as well as in severe disease.[113]
The first pesticide used for indoor residual spraying was DDT.[114] Although it was initially
used exclusively to combat malaria, its use quickly spread toagriculture. In time, pest control,
rather than disease control, came to dominate DDT use, and this large-scale agricultural use
led to the evolution of resistant mosquitoes in many regions. The DDT resistance shown
by Anopheles mosquitoes can be compared to antibiotic resistance shown by bacteria. During
the 1960s, awareness of the negative consequences of its indiscriminate use increased,
ultimately leading to bans on agricultural applications of DDT in many countries in the
1970s.[48] Before DDT, malaria was successfully eliminated or controlled in tropical areas
like Brazil and Egypt by removing or poisoning the breeding grounds of the mosquitoes or
the aquatic habitats of the larva stages, for example by applying the highly toxic arsenic
compound Paris Green to places with standing water.[115]
Malaria vaccines have been an elusive goal of research. The first promising studies
demonstrating the potential for a malaria vaccine were performed in 1967 by immunizing
mice with live, radiation-attenuated sporozoites, which provided significant protection to the
mice upon subsequent injection with normal, viable sporozoites. Since the 1970s, there has
been a considerable effort to develop similar vaccination strategies within humans.[116]
Economic impact
Malaria is not just a disease commonly associated with poverty: some evidence suggests that
it is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance toeconomic development.[117][118] Tropical
regions are affected most; however, malaria's furthest extent reaches into some temperate
zones with extreme seasonal changes. The disease has been associated with major negative
economic effects on regions where it is widespread. During the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, it was a major factor in the slow economic development of the American southern
states.[119]
A comparison of average per capita GDP in 1995, adjusted for parity of purchasing power,
between countries with malaria and countries without malaria gives a fivefold difference
($1,526 USD versus $8,268 USD). In countries where malaria is common, average per capita
GDP has risen (between 1965 and 1990) only 0.4% per year, compared to 2.4% per year in
other countries.[120]
Poverty can increase the risk of malaria, since those in poverty do not have the financial
capacities to prevent or treat the disease. In its entirety, the economic impact of malaria has
been estimated to cost Africa $12 billion USD every year. The economic impact includes
costs of health care, working days lost due to sickness, days lost in education, decreased
productivity due to brain damage from cerebral malaria, and loss of investment and
tourism.[121] The disease has a heavy burden in some countries, where it may be responsible
for 3050% of hospital admissions, up to 50% ofoutpatient visits, and up to 40% of public
health spending.[122]
Another clinical and public health concern is the proliferation of substandard antimalarial
medicines resulting from inappropriate concentration of ingredients, contamination with other
drugs or toxic impurities, poor quality ingredients, poor stability and inadequate
packaging.[129] A 2012 study demonstrated that roughly one-third of antimalarial medications
in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa failed chemical analysis, packaging analysis, or
were falsified.[1]
War
Throughout history, the contraction of malaria has played a prominent role in the fates of
government rulers, nation-states, military personnel, and military actions.[130] In 1910, Nobel
Prize in Medicine-winner Ronald Ross (himself a malaria survivor), published a book
titled The Prevention of Malariathat included a chapter titled "The Prevention of Malaria in
War." The chapter's author, Colonel C. H. Melville, Professor of Hygiene at Royal Army
Medical College in London, addressed the prominent role that malaria has historically played
during wars: "The history of malaria in war might almost be taken to be the history of war
itself, certainly the history of war in the Christian era. ... It is probably the case that many of
the so-called camp fevers, and probably also a considerable proportion of the camp
dysentery, of the wars of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were malarial in
origin."[131]
Significant financial investments have been made to procure existing and create new anti-
malarial agents. During World War I and World War II, inconsistent supplies of the natural
anti-malaria drugs cinchona bark and quinine prompted substantial funding into research and
development of other drugs and vaccines. American military organizations conducting such
research initiatives include the Navy Medical Research Center, Walter Reed Army Institute
of Research, and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases of the US
Armed Forces.[132]
Additionally, initiatives have been founded such as Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA),
established in 1942, and its successor, the Communicable Disease Center (now known as
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC) established in 1946. According to
the CDC, MCWA "was established to control malaria around military training bases in the
southern United States and its territories, where malaria was still problematic".[133]
Eradication efforts
Several notable attempts are being made to eliminate the parasite from sections of the world,
or to eradicate it worldwide. In 2006, the organizationMalaria No More set a public goal of
eliminating malaria from Africa by 2015, and the organization plans to dissolve if that goal is
accomplished.[134] Several malaria vaccines are in clinical trials, which are intended to
provide protection for children in endemic areas and reduce the speed of transmission of the
disease. As of 2012, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malariahas
distributed 230 million insecticide-treated nets intended to stop mosquito-born transmission
of malaria.[135] The U.S.-based Clinton Foundation has worked to manage demand and
stabilize prices in the artemisinin market.[136] Other efforts, such as the Malaria Atlas Project
focus on analysing climate and weather information required to accurately predict the spread
of malaria based on the availability of habitat of malaria-carrying parasites.[81]
Malaria has been successfully eliminated or greatly reduced in certain areas. Malaria was
once common in the United States and southern Europe, but vector control programs, in
conjunction with the monitoring and treatment of infected humans, eliminated it from those
regions. Several factors contributed, such as the draining of wetland breeding grounds for
agriculture and other changes in water management practices, and advances in sanitation,
including greater use of glass windows and screens in dwellings.[137] Malaria was eliminated
from most parts of the USA in the early 20th century by such methods, and the use of
the pesticide DDT and other means eliminated it from the remaining pockets in the South in
the 1950s.[138] (see National Malaria Eradication Program) In Suriname, the disease has been
cleared from its capital city and coastal areas through a three-pronged approach initiated by
the Global Malaria Eradication program in 1955, involving: vector control through the use of
DDT and IRS; regular collection of blood smears from the population to identify existing
malaria cases; and providing chemotherapy to all affected individuals.[139]Bhutan is pursuing
an aggressive malaria elimination strategy, and has achieved a 98.7% decline in microscopy-
confirmed cases from 1994 to 2010. In addition to vector control techniques such as IRS in
high-risk areas and thorough distribution of long-lasting ITNs, factors such as economic
development and increasing access to health services have contributed to Bhutan's successes
in reducing malaria incidence.[140]
Research
Immunity (or, more accurately, tolerance) to P. falciparum malaria does occur naturally, but
only in response to years of repeated infection.[141] An individual can be protected from
a P. falciparuminfection if they receive about a thousand bites from mosquitoes that carry a
version of the parasite rendered non-infective by a dose of X-ray irradiation.[142] An
effective vaccine is not yet available for malaria, although several are under
development.[143] The highly polymorphic nature of many P. falciparum proteins results in
significant challenges to vaccine design. Vaccine candidates that target antigens on gametes,
zygotes, or ookinetes in the mosquito midgut aim to block the transmission of malaria. These
transmission-blocking vaccines induce antibodies in the human blood; when a mosquito takes
a blood meal from a protected individual, these antibodies prevent the parasite from
completing its development in the mosquito.[144] Other vaccine candidates, targeting the
blood-stage of the parasite's life cycle, have been inadequate on their own.[145] For
example, SPf66 was tested extensively in endemic areas in the 1990s, but clinical trials
showed it to be insufficiently effective.[146] Several potential vaccines targeting the pre-
erythrocytic stage of the parasite's life cycle are being developed, with RTS,S showing the
most promising results so far.[142]A US biotech company, Sanaria, is developing a pre-
erythrocytic attenuated vaccine called PfSPZ that uses whole sporozoites to induce an
immune response.[147] In 2006, the Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee to the WHO
outlined a "Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap" that has as one of its landmark objectives
to "develop and license a first-generation malaria vaccine that has a protective efficacy of
more than 50% against severe disease and death and lasts longer than one year" by 2015.[148]
Malaria parasites contain apicoplasts, an organelle usually found in plants, complete with
their own functioning genomes. These apicoplasts are thought to have originated through
theendosymbiosis of algae and play a crucial role in various aspects of parasite metabolism,
for example in fatty acid biosynthesis. Over 400 proteins have been found to be produced by
apicoplasts and these are now being investigated as possible targets for novel anti-malarial
drugs.[149]
With the onset of drug-resistant Plasmodium parasites, new strategies are being developed to
combat the widespread disease. One such approach lies in the introduction of
synthetic pyridoxal-amino acid adducts, which are taken up by the parasite and ultimately
interfere with its ability to create several essential B-vitamins.[150][151] Antimalarial drugs
utilising synthetic metal-basedcomplexes are attracting research interest.[152][153]
In other animals
Nearly 200 parasitic Plasmodium species have been identified that infect birds, reptiles,
and other mammals,[154] and about 30 species naturally infect non-human primates.[155] Some
of the malaria parasites that affect non-human primates (NHP) serve as model organisms for
human malarial parasites, such as P. coatneyi (a model for P. falciparum)
and P. cynomolgi (P. vivax). Diagnostic techniques used to detect parasites in NHP are
similar to those employed for humans.[156] Avian malaria primarily affects species of the
order Passeriformes, and poses a substantial threat to birds of Hawaii, the Galapagos, and
other archipelagoes. The parasite P. relictum is known to play a role in limiting the
distribution and abundance of endemic Hawaiian birds. Global warming is expected to
increase the prevalence and global distribution of avian malaria, as elevated temperatures
provide optimal conditions for parasite reproduction.[157]
As the malaria parasites enter the blood stream they infect and destroy red blood cells.
Destruction of these essential cells leads to fever and flu-like symptoms, such as chills,
headache, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These initial symptoms are
non-specific: in other words, they are self-reported symptoms that do not indicate a specific
disease process.
Uncomplicated malaria (can be caused by all strains of Plasmodium)
Malaria is considered uncomplicated when symptoms are present but there are no clinical or
laboratory signs to indicate severity or vital organ dysfunction.2 The symptoms of
uncomplicated malaria are non-specific and include fever.
Severe malaria (only caused by P. falciparum)
Infection with P. falciparum, if not promptly treated, can quickly progress to severe malaria.
The main symptoms of severe malaria include: coma, severe breathing difficulties, low blood
sugar, and low blood haemoglobin (severe anaemia). It is diagnosed on the basis of the
presence P. falciparum parasites and one of the above symptoms with no other obvious
cause. Children are particularly vulnerable since they have little or no immunity to the
parasite. If untreated, severe malaria can lead to death.
Cerebral malaria (only caused by P. falciparum)
Malaria is classified as cerebral when it manifests with cerebral symptoms, such as coma.
References
Cited literature
WHO (2010) (PDF). Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria (Report) (2nd ed.). World
Health Organization. ISBN 978-9-2415-4792-5.
Patricia Schlagenhauf-Lawlor P (2008). Travelers' Malaria. PMPH-USA. ISBN 978-1-
55009-336-0.
Further reading