Pathogenesis of Malaria

The Malaria Protozoan parasite, of the genus Plasmodium. There are two main types of Plasmodiumthat infect humans Plasmodium Falciparum Plasmodium Vivax Transmitted by female mosquitoes Develops in mosquito gut Migrates to salivary glands Transfers to other organisms through the saliva of the mosquito. The Mosquito A mosquito is an organism of the family Culicidae. The females require a blood meal to develop eggs. The mosquito vector for malaria is the mosquito genus Anopheles.

What are its symptoms and how would someone diagnose this disease? Malaria is a disease cause by a protozoan parasite. There are four species of these one-celled organisms that cause malaria in humans. They are known as Plasmodium; the most common is Plasmodium falciparum. To get inside our system, Anopheles mosquitoes are needed to transport this killer parasite.

Because some mosquitoes contain substances toxic to Plasmodium in their cells, not all species of mosquitoes are vectors of Plasmodium. Although very specific, malaria still causes disruption of over three hundred million people worldwide each year (Cann, 1996). The life cycle of the parasite causing malaria exists between two organisms, humans and the Anopheles mosquito. When a female mosquito bites a human, she injects an anticoagulant saliva which keeps the human bleeding and ensures an even flowing meal for her. When the vector injects her saliva into the human, it also injects ten percent of her sporozoite load.

Plasmodium falciparum, the leading cause of the most severe cases of malaria, has been the topic of these studies. Researchers have found that the ABO blood group antigens may be of significance to susceptibility and resistance in individuals. With this newfound knowledge, the development of new vaccines or drugs can be researched to end the increasing drug resistance to current therapeutics on the market. P. falciparum is widely transmitted through the Anopheles mosquito bite as a sporozoite. Once inside it begins a vicious life cycle causing acute hemolytic anemia, weakness and fatigue, cyclic fever, other organ issues: lungs and kidneys, even death.

BACKGROUND Since ancient times, malaria has been posing a grave threat to the mankind in terms of morbidity, mortality and economic adversity. This infectious disease is caused by protozoan parasites from Plasmodium family and transmitted by infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It afflicts people from all age groups across tropical and sub- tropical regions in the world[1]. Presently, malaria is endemic in 104 countries[2].Though, in the past decade the fight against this preventable disease has been intensified worldwide and as a result , during 2000-2012 the global malarial mortality and incidence rates have declined by about 42% and 25% respectively; this deadly disease has still inflicted an estimated 207 million cases and taken 627 000 lives around the world while leaving nearly 3.4 billion people at risk of contracting the infection in 2012[3]. India, being a malaria endemic zone, confronts this protozoan disease perennially[4].

Introduction: Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of mortality in all over the world. The infection caused by M. tuberculosis is commonly known as tuberculosis or TB. According to a CDC report, in 2012, approximately nine million patients were infected globally with TB and the fatality was around 1.3 million1. It is estimated that nearly one third of the global population is infected with TB. M. tuberculosis was first described by Robert Koch in the year 1882 as the “tubercle bacillus”.

The Malaria Parasite Plasmodium and the Epidemiology of the Disease Abstract For ages malaria has affected mankind in almost all parts of the world. It has left a deep imprint on people who have been affected with the disease, and even today in countries where epidemics are common, malaria is a constant threat to people's daily lives. Malaria is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium (phylum Apicomplexa), and there are four species in the genus that cause the disease in humans. Their primary hosts and transmission vectors are female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles; humans act as intermediate hosts. Places near the equator with a warm, subtropical climate are most susceptible to malaria endemics.

The parasites that cause malaria rely on a human host in order to reproduce and thrive. The vector, mosquitos in this case, are simply the means by which the parasite finds its next human host to thrive again. As seen by the eradication of malaria in some areas the life cycle of malaria parasites is greatly dependent on the life cycle of the anopheles mosquito.Mosquitos need water to reproduce as the egg, larval and pupae st... ... middle of paper ... ...the most Widespread, Insidious, and Costly of Diseases. "International Development Review 1 (1959): 7-11. ProQuest.Web.

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute: Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Sixteenth Informational Supplement M100-S16. CLSI, Wayne, PA, USA, 2006. 8. Chandar J, Kaistha N, Gupta V, Mehta M, Singla N, Deep A, Sarkar BL. Epidemiology and antibiograms of Vibrio cholerae isolates from a tertiary care hospital in Chandigarh, north India.

Mandell, Douglas, Bennetts Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier.pp. Chapter 250. Mayo Clinic. (2010) Tuberculosis.