I.

Introduction:
Background Study
Malaria is considered as the most important parasitic disease affecting man, as it is responsible
for million deaths annually. It has been identified by the World Health Organization as one of the three
major infectious disease threats, along with HIV and tuberculosis, which together, cause more than 5
million deaths each year. Despite such high figures in mortality, the disease is curable if it is promptly
and adequately treated. The nature of malaria as a public health problem requires sustained and
systematic efforts toward two major strategies, namely prevention of transmission through vector
control and the detection and early treatment of cases to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality. The
group of parasites causing malaria belongs to the genus Plasmodium that is normally transmitted by the
bite of an infected female mosquito belonging to the genus Anopheles. Majority of us do not know how
does this parasitic disease affect us human through the carrier mosquito that can cause malaria

Review of related literature:

Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus

Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia,
and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one
and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ninety
percent of malaria-related deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is one of the most common
infectious diseases and an enormous public health problem. Five species of the plasmodium parasite can
infect humans; the most serious forms of the disease are caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria
caused by Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium malariae causes milder disease in
humans that is not generally fatal. A fifth species, Plasmodium knowlesi, causes malaria in macaques but
can also infect humans. This group of human-pathogenic Plasmodium species is usually referred to as
malaria parasites. Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infective female Anopheles
mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria, and they must have been infected through
a previous blood meal taken on an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small
amount of blood is taken, which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About one week later, when
the mosquito takes its next blood meal, these parasites mix with the mosquito's saliva and are injected
into the person being bitten. The parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that
include symptoms of anemia (light-headedness, shortness of breath, tachycardia, etc.), as well as other
general symptoms such as fever, chills, nausea, flu-like illness, and, in severe cases, coma, and death.
Although some are under development, no vaccine is currently available for malaria that provides a high
level of protection; preventive drugs must be taken continuously to reduce the risk of infection. These
prophylactic drug treatments are often too expensive for most people living in endemic areas. Most
adults from endemic areas have a degree of long-term infection, which tends to recur, and also possess
partial immunity (resistance); the resistance reduces with time, and such adults may become susceptible
to severe malaria if they have spent a significant amount of time in non-endemic areas. They are
strongly recommended to take full precautions if they return to an endemic area.