Malaria is spread by the bite of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. The malaria parasites infect and destroy red blood cells, causing symptoms like fever, chills, and flu-like illness. Untreated malaria can progress to severe complications and even death. It is most commonly found in parts of Africa, Asia, Central and South America. Prevention involves avoiding mosquito bites by using insect repellent and sleeping under treated bed nets, and potentially taking antimalarial medications if traveling to high risk areas.

1. What is Malaria
• 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. If untreated, severe malaria can lead to death.

2. How it is spread.
• Malaria is spread by female mosquitoes. The parasite which causes
malaria is found in the female mosquitoes saliva. When a person is bitten
by a female mosquito, the parasite enters the bloodstream via the
mosquitoes saliva. It can also be spread by contact of blood .

3. Why is malaria dangerous
• While most malarial parasites need not be fatal, the resulting bouts of
fever, shivering etc., can cause a lot of weakness. The plasmodium
falciparum parasite, however, can cause serious complications including
low blood sugar levels, abnormal accumulation of fluids in the lungs,
spontaneous bleeding, circulatory collapse, and shock. It might be even
fatal as when it causes coma. Malaria is highly dangerous for the pregnant
women the the unborn child, who are likely to develop the more severe
cases of malaria.

4. How is it commonly found
Malaria transmission occurs in large areas of Central and
South America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian
subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and
Oceania. The risk to travelers varies depending on local
weather conditions, the number of mosquitoes in the area,
and the traveler's itinerary and time and type of travel.

5. How we can prevent it.
• The risk of being bitten by a mosquito and the type of malaria transmitted
varies, depending on the country you're visiting and the time of year.
Measures to avoid bites should always be taken. If malaria is prevalent in
an area you're travelling to, you would be wise to take preventive
medicine.
• When sleeping outdoors or in an unscreened room, have an insecticide-
treated mosquito net around your bed.
• Mosquitoes bite particularly at twilight and at night, so you should take
most precautions during this time.