Symptoms
and Diagnosis
What are
the signs and symptoms of malaria?
Symptoms
of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including
shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea,
vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Malaria may cause
anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the skin and eyes)
because of the loss of red blood cells. Infection with one
type of malaria,
Plasmodium falciparum,
if not promptly treated,
may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma,
and death.
How soon
will a person feel sick after being bitten by an infected
mosquito?
For most
people, symptoms begin 10 days to 4 weeks after infection,
although a person may feel ill as early as 7 days or as late
as 1 year later. Two kinds of malaria,
P. vivax
and
P. ovale,
can relapse. In
P.
vivax
and
P. ovale infections, some parasites can remain
dormant in the liver for several months up to about 4 years
after a person is bitten by an infected mosquito. When these
parasites come out of hibernation and begin invading red blood
cells (“relapse”), the person will become sick.
How do I
know if I have malaria?
Most
people, at the beginning of the disease, have fever, sweats,
chills, headaches, malaise, muscles aches, nausea and
vomiting. Malaria can very rapidly become a severe and
life-threatening disease. The surest way for you and your
health-care provider to know whether you have malaria is to
have a diagnostic test where a drop of your blood is examined
under the microscope for the presence of malaria parasites. If
you are sick and there is any suspicion of malaria (for
example, if you have recently traveled in a malaria-risk area)
the test should be performed without delay.
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