How People Are Infected with Malaria

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According to the Welcome-trust, an organization that is involved in the study and research of Malaria, there are over 120 known species of the genus Plasmodium parasite, but only four of these 120 species infect humans to cause malaria. Humans can be infected by four species of Plasmodium parasites: Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium ovale. The main difference between the different species is that the Plasmodium falciparum, can cause severe and life-threatening malaria, while the others cannot “Malaria lifecycle - mosquito stages | Wellcome Trust")
In most cases of malaria the patient feels well and the infection is only detected by a blood test that finds parasites in the blood. This is the most common case of malaria amongst people who have lived through several attacks of malaria and have an established certain degree of immunity to the disease; this is also the case in older children and adults in the most part of Africa on the south of the Sahara. Since immunity is mostly obtained from exposure to Malaria, (Fagan, 2000) infection without severe symptoms is very rare among people with no immunity, such as travelers from a malaria-free area who become infected. An infection with (P. falciparum) Plasmodium falciparum causes simple malaria which although very unpleasant does not pose instant threat to life. The patient usually suffers from persistent fever with characterized by vomiting, vomiting with anemia (low blood hemoglobin) and an overly enlarged spleen. The victim also experiences persistent diarrhea .Symptoms in children may be a bit more severe because as an addition to the above mentioned symptoms children may also suffer rapid breathing, and may experience a con...

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...a Journal | Full text | Increased detection of Plasmodium knowlesi in Sandakan division, Sabah as revealed by PlasmoNex¿", 2013,)
Although all forms malaria are taken earnestly .Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale are not usually considered fatal. However, the victims still need to get treatment. The parasite remains at the liver stage (dormant) in the body for years without causing sickness. Because if not treated, the dormant parasites might re-activate and cause a multitude of health problems; if the parasite re-activates from the liver stage, it weakens the victim’s immune system which makes it easy for opportunistic diseases such as Tuber Culosis (TB) to infect the victim. (Crutcher & Hoffman, 1996)
Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) is considered the most dangerous of the species as it causes more deaths. (Crutcher & Hoffman, 1996)

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