Malaria: The Ancient
Deadly Disease
By: Allen Bowman
&
Sandra Fridlund
What is Malaria?
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Infection spread by the Anapheles
mosquito
Mosquito bite causes parasite to get
into your blood stream
Parasite lays eggs in blood stream
4 known species:
Plasmodium falciparum (most deadliest)
 P. Vivex
 P. Ovale
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Where is Malaria?
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At least 90 countries in Africa, Asia,
the Caribbean, and Central and South
America are considered malarious
Leading cause of death worldwide
300-500 million people infected each
year
2 million die each year
History – 2700 BCE – 340
CE

China
– Nei Ching – medical writings
– Anti fever properties of Quinhao known as
artemisinin

Greece
– 4th century BC – recognized a decrease in
population due to a disease.
– Pericles era(495-429) – sanskrit medical writings
of insect bites causing death.
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Rome
– Malaria disease in swamps
History: Early 17th
Century

Spanish learned of medical bark from
Quinquina calisaya
Discoveries
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1800: Discovery of the Malaria Parasite
by Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran
– Noticed parasites in blood
– Species name: Oscillaria malariae
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Differential species
– Camillo Golgi
Tertian periodicity (fever every other day)
 Quartan periodicity (fever every 3rd day)
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Malaria Naming
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Quivanni Batista Grassi and Raimondo
Filetti (1890): Plasmodium vivax and P.
malariae
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William Welch (1897):
– P. falciparium (tertian malaria parasite)
– Took over Laverans name of Oscillaria
malaria
Malaria Naming
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John William Watson Stephens (1922):
4th human malaria parasite (P. ovale)
Malaria Control
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1942 – 1945: Southern United States
had problematic areas
1946 – present: CDC focused on
prevention, surveillance and technical
support internationally
1950’s: US was eradicated from
malaria
Malaria Control
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1955 – 1978: Eradication in temperate
climate areas – India and Sir Lanka
Huge increase of eradication in these
areas, but fell quickly with major
infections of malaria
Negligible progress in Indonesia,
Afghanistan, Haiti, and Nicaragua
Excluded efforts from sub Saharan
Africa
Prevention
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Protection from malaria:
– Keep from getting mosquito bites
– Sleep in a room with screens
– Use insect repellent that contains no
more than 35% of deet
– Wear long sleeves and light colored
clothes
– Do not go outside after sunset
Medications

Known as Prophylactics, must be
taken weeks before leaving to a
malaria infested country and weeks
after returning home
– Cloroquine: 4-aminoquinoline that inhibits
the heme polymerase and prevents the
coversion of heme
Medications

Known as Prophylactics, must be
taken weeks before leaving to a
malaria infested country and weeks
after returning home
– Mefloquine (standard): derived of
methanal
Medications

Known as Prophylactics, must be
taken weeks before leaving to a
malaria infested country and weeks
after returning home
– Proguanil (aka chloroguanide
hydrochloride): manufactured in Great
Britian and unavailable in the U.S.
Medications

Known as Prophylactics, must be
taken weeks before leaving to a
malaria infested country and weeks
after returning home
– Doxycycline: attacks the preerythrocytic
phase which occurs in the liver and the
erythrocytic phase of the Plasmodium life
cycle through ribosomal inhibition
Medications

Known as Prophylactics, must be
taken weeks before leaving to a
malaria infested country and weeks
after returning home
– Primaquine: reserved for people who
travel for extensive periods of time
– Before primaquine therapy is initiated,
the possibility of glucose-6-phosphate
dehydrogenase defidiciency must be
excluded
Medications

Known as Prophylactics, must be
taken weeks before leaving to a
malaria infested country and weeks
after returning home
– If present, this deficiency can result in
severe hemolytic anemia in persons
taking Primaquine
Malaria Symptoms
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Fever
Headache and Muscle pain
Fatigue
Chills
Sweats
Nausea and Vomiting
Dry cough
Malaria Symptoms
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Severity depends on individual’s health
and immune system AND the infecting
parasite
Incubation Range for symptoms to
show:
– Plasmodium falciparum: 7 to 14 days
– P. vivax: 8 to 18 days
– P. ovale: 8 to 18 days
– P. malariae: 7 to 40 days
Malaria Symptoms
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http://www.cdfound.to.it/hTML/pf24.h
tm
Malaria Life Cycle
Malaria Life Cycle

http://wwwermm.cbcu.cam.ac.uk/dcn/swf001dcn.
htm
Diagnostic Tests for
Malaria
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Blood smear
– Number and shape of blood cells
– Checks morphology of RBCs
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DNA probe
Immunoassay
Malaria: The Ancient
Deadly Disease