1. malaria
Malaria is a mosquito borne infectious
disease of humans and other animals
caused by protists (a type of microorganism)
of the genus Plasmodium

2. How is malaria spread
• Bitten by an infected mosquito bites a human
• The malaria parasite enters the human and within 30
minutes infects the liver
• Infection develops in red blood cells, which burst
infecting other blood cells. During this phase the
person becomes dangerously ill with fevers and
becomes anaemic
• Another mosquito feeds on the infected human’s
blood and the malaria parasite enters the mosquito
• The malaria parasite undergoes changes in the
mosquito’s gut ready to infect the next person

3. Why is malaria dangerous
• The reason that malaria is so dangerous is because it
affects the behaviour of red blood cells. Red blood
cells that are infected with P. falciparum become
“sticky”, and as they pass through the the small blood
vessels inside the body’s organs, they become stuck –
this process is known as “sequestration”. As the
number of red blood cells stuck inside the small blood
vessels increases, blood flow to the organ is reduced,
which can result in further complications. When
sequestration occurs inside the blood vessels in the
brain, the result is what is clinically recognised as
cerebral malaria – complications can include impaired
consciousness, coma and even death.

4. Why is it commonly found
• Malaria is prevalent in tropical regions
because the significant amounts of rainfall,
consistently high temperatures and high
humidity, along with stagnant waters in which
mosquito larvae readily mature, provide them
with the environment they need for
continuous breeding.

5. How to prevent malaria
• Methods used to prevent malaria include medications,
mosquito eradication 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. [37]
Many countries are seeing an increasing number of
imported malaria cases owing to extensive travel and
migration.