Development and Health
Malaria
Introduction to Malaria
[Date]
Today I will:
- Know the physical and human factors which put
people at risk of malaria
Development and Health
Malaria
Introduction
Development and Health
Malaria
In the time it takes to say
the word malaria, ten
people, seven of them
children, will have
caught it
Global annual mortality:
1.5 - 3 million deaths, or
between 4000 and 8000
each day
Global population at risk:
2.3 billion people (about
40% of the world’s
population)
Development and Health
Malaria
The name comes from the Italian mal (bad) and aria (air) – it was originally
thought the disease was spread by the damp air from swamps.
Development and Health
Malaria
The link between the disease and the Anopheles Mosquito was first made by
Ronald Ross, a Scottish army doctor, working in India.
Development and Health
Malaria
You can catch Malaria
from blood transfusions,
infected needles or intra
placentally i.e. from a
mother to the baby in her
womb.
But by far the most
common way is by being
bitten by the female
Anopheles Mosquito.
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Malaria
When the Anopheles Mosquito
“bites”, it actually sinks a long, thin
mouth part, the proboscis, into the
skin.
The mosquito then pumps saliva
under the skin, to stop the blood
clotting – so that it can drink
uninterrupted! In the saliva is the
main culprit, the Plasmodium, a
single-cell blood parasite.
Development and Health
Malaria
There are four types of malaria: Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium
vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium Falciparum – the most
deadly.
If the mosquito is carrying the Plasmodium, then it will transfer it
to the victim’s bloodstream in its saliva.
If the person is infected, then they will transfer the Plasmodium into
the mosquito, which can then fly off and infect someone else.
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Malaria
The Effects
Development and Health
Malaria
Development and Health
Malaria
Several days of
headaches and vague,
flu-like pains of the
body…
INFECTION
Several days of
weakness and
slow recovery
Sudden onset of cold stage – patient
shivers violently and turns blue with
cold, even though his actual
temperature is rising. Lasts about one
hour…
Sweating stage patient
soaked in sweat, but
begins to feel better after
2-3 hours…
Hot stage – high
temperature, headache,
sickness and dizziness. Lasts
several hours…
Development and Health
Malaria
Microscopic magnification
shows Plasmodium
falciparum—the most
virulent of the four malaria
parasites that infect
humans—destroying red
blood cells in the liver. It
digests a cell's
haemoglobin, multiplies
inside to the point of
rupturing the cell, and
rapidly spreads a new
generation of infection.
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Malaria
Blood vessels to the brain are blocked with dead red
blood cells, starving the brain of oxygen. Coma or death
will follow rapidly.
Development and Health
Malaria
Most at risk are the very young, who have not yet developed any
degree of natural immunity…
…along with pregnant women, whose
immune system is weakened.
Development and Health
Malaria
Without rapid medical help, many of these children will die:
currently one every 30 seconds or less.
Development and Health
Malaria
Adult victims
will have
repeated
attacks for
many years,
unless treated.
When ill, they
cannot work.
Development and Health
Malaria
Some famous
sufferers of
malaria
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Malaria
Distribution
(Where can you find malaria?)
Development and Health
Malaria
Malaria is a disease which is endemic in many
countries. This means it is always present.
Development and Health
Malaria