Malaria
riMalaria 1
Parasitic Disease: Malaria
Brittany Jolicoeur
May 8th, 2012
Frost/ SB1 3U
Malaria 2
Parasitic Disease: Malaria Malaria is a serious parasitic infection that is spread by Anopheles mosquitoes. The Plasmodium parasite that can cause malaria is neither a bacterium nor a virus therefore it is a single-celled parasite that multiplies in red blood cells of humans as well as in the mosquito intestine. C. Laveran in 1880 was the first to identify the parasites in human blood. In 1889 R. Ross discovered that mosquitoes transmitted malaria. Malaria is a serious global problem and there were 247 million cases of the disease worldwide, killing about 1 million people. Also, each year up to 1 million Canadians travel to malaria-endemic areas which results in approximately 350 to 1,000 annual cases of malaria in Canada. (Body and Health Canada, 2012).
The life cycles of parasite Plasmodium is complex and involves two hosts, Anopheles mosquitoes and humans. The disease is transmitted to humans when an infected anopheles mosquito bites a person and injects the malaria sporozoites into the blood. An image that shows a mosquito taking a blood meal from a human is shown below. Sporozoites travel through the bloodstream to the liver, then mature and eventually infect the human red blood cells. While in the red blood cells, the parasites again develop until a mosquito takes a blood meal from an infected human and ingests human red blood cells containing the parasites. Then the parasites reach the Anopheles mosquito’s stomach and eventually invade the mosquito salivary glands. When an Anopheles mosquito bites a human, these sporozoites complete and repeat the Plasmodium life cycle. Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium vivax can complicate the cycle more by making dormant stages, also known as hypnozoites that may not develop for weeks to years. (Parasites and Health, 2008)
Malaria
Parasitic Disease: Malaria
Brittany Jolicoeur
May 8th, 2012
Frost/ SB1 3U
Malaria 2
Parasitic Disease: Malaria Malaria is a serious parasitic infection that is spread by Anopheles mosquitoes. The Plasmodium parasite that can cause malaria is neither a bacterium nor a virus therefore it is a single-celled parasite that multiplies in red blood cells of humans as well as in the mosquito intestine. C. Laveran in 1880 was the first to identify the parasites in human blood. In 1889 R. Ross discovered that mosquitoes transmitted malaria. Malaria is a serious global problem and there were 247 million cases of the disease worldwide, killing about 1 million people. Also, each year up to 1 million Canadians travel to malaria-endemic areas which results in approximately 350 to 1,000 annual cases of malaria in Canada. (Body and Health Canada, 2012).
The life cycles of parasite Plasmodium is complex and involves two hosts, Anopheles mosquitoes and humans. The disease is transmitted to humans when an infected anopheles mosquito bites a person and injects the malaria sporozoites into the blood. An image that shows a mosquito taking a blood meal from a human is shown below. Sporozoites travel through the bloodstream to the liver, then mature and eventually infect the human red blood cells. While in the red blood cells, the parasites again develop until a mosquito takes a blood meal from an infected human and ingests human red blood cells containing the parasites. Then the parasites reach the Anopheles mosquito’s stomach and eventually invade the mosquito salivary glands. When an Anopheles mosquito bites a human, these sporozoites complete and repeat the Plasmodium life cycle. Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium vivax can complicate the cycle more by making dormant stages, also known as hypnozoites that may not develop for weeks to years. (Parasites and Health, 2008)
Malaria
Bibliography: Body and Health. (2011). Body and Health: Malaria. Postmedia Network. Retrieved May 4th , 2012 from <http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/channel_condition_info_details.asp?channel_id=1020&relation_id=0&disease_id=85&page_no=2#Diagnosis> CDC. (2004). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Malaria. Parasites and Health. Retrieved May 3rd , 2012 from < http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Malaria.htm> CDC. (2010). Malaria: Malaria Prevention. Malaria.com. Retrieved May 4th, 2012 from < http://www.malaria.com/about> Davis, Charles. (1996-2012). Medicine Net: Malaria. Medicine Net. Retrieved May 3rd , 2012 from < http://www.medicinenet.com/malaria/article.htm#4whatare> eMedTV. (2012). eMedTV: Malaria Cure. Is there a Malaria Cure? Clinaero. Retrieved May 3rd, 2012 from < http://malaria.emedtv.com/malaria/malaria-cure.html>