Understanding malaria - Essay Example

Malaria Research Paper INTRODUCTION Malaria is an infection, which is triggered by parasites that spread through mosquitos to human body, causing illness. It has been a major threat for human life as it is responsible for killing numerous people worldwide. This particular disease has been a threat for above one-third of the entire populaces worldwide as it has been continuously growing in tropical regions such as Africa, America and Asia. According to the report published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it has been predicted that in excess of 1200 people are diagnosed in the United States (US) due to the suffering with malaria (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “Understanding Malaria”). THESIS STATEMENT The prime intent of this essay is to explore different aspects of malaria such as its symptoms, causes, diagnoses and methods for its prevention among others. DISCUSSION The main reason behind choosing malaria as a topic is that it has been the prime root of death and morbidity in the global context. In the year 2011, malaria has been the reason for 660,000 deaths worldwide, which laid the requirement of making further researches in relation to this particular field National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “Understanding Malaria”). 1. Malaria can be defined as a disease or infection, which gets transmitted amid the individuals by an infested ‘female Anopheles mosquito’ through a bite or in certain cases through transfusion of blood. The disease gets spread through a cycle wherein a mosquito bites an infected person with malaria and sucks up human blood. Consequently, this particular disease gets sucked up by a mosquito along with the blood through which this parasite gets developed and multiplied within a mosquito. Subsequently, this parasite gets matured inside a mosquito within a period of 10-14 days after which it becomes ready to get passed among other individuals. Once an infected mosquito bites an individual who is completely fit and healthy, the parasites enters into blood that gets spread within a human liver wherein it multiplies and returns into the blood steam. This parasite gets multiplied 10 times within two days that completely results in destroying red blood cells (RBCs) along with contaminating new cells within the human body. There are four types of parasites involving ‘Plasmodium falciparum’, ‘Plasmodium vivax’, ‘ovale’ and ‘malariae’ that impose adverse effects on human life. An individual infected with malaria can witness its symptoms within a period of 7-21 days after which the health of the individuals gets deteriorated (UNICEF, “Malaria Prevention and Treatment.”). 2. With regards to determine the current knowledge on malaria, it is often considered that this particular disease affects the health and wealth of a particular nation at large. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the economic growth of a nation with huge extent of malaria transmission is relatively lower as compared to the nations free from malaria. Numerous economists conceived that malaria has been the cause of ‘growth penalty’ at the rate of 1.3% annually in African regions (Isle, “Malaria”). At present, issues related to malaria have significantly decreased in nations that remain much focused towards developing effective strategies for precluding and controlling malaria .Current knowledge on this disease in the course of pregnancy supports the fact that ‘intermittent presumptive therapy’ (IPT) along with ‘sulphadoxine or pyrimethamine’ must be used to prevent a women to get severely affected with malaria during gestation (Isle, “Malaria”). 3. Malaria is considered as a systematic disease wherein various systems within a human body gets affected as the erythrocytes get infested. Symptoms of malaria are indicated through a compound syndrome, which is developed through ‘host’ and ‘parasite’ causes. Malaria affects the RBCs within a human body due to which these cells get engaged in processes such as ‘rosetting’, ‘antigenic variation’ and ‘cytoadherence’. The figure below provides a clear idea regarding how malaria is related to the subject of biology or microbiology (Kirchgatter and Portillo, “Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Severe Malaria”). Fig.1: Illustration of how parasites (i.e. black circles) affects blood vessels. The arrow depicts how infected RBCs get engaged in cytoadherence and rosetting Source: (Kirchgatter and Portillo, “Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Severe Malaria”) 4. Malaria can be defined as an infection, which is triggered by infected parasites that spread by female Anopheles mosquitos. In order to gather relevant information pertaining to malaria, a personal interview with George Thompson who was previously diagnosed with malaria has been conducted. The interview offered valuable input regarding malaria and its impact on physical as well as mental health of the individuals. It was revealed that Thompson initially suffered through fever and vomiting, however he failed to recognise that it was the initial symptom of malaria. Eventually, Thompson started losing weight, which made him physically weak and compelled him to consult a doctor. Thus, Thompson identified that he was actually suffering through malaria, which adversely affected his physical and mental wellbeing (Thompson, “Personal interview”). The symptoms of malaria are that it produces a series of repeated attacks that are acknowledged as paroxysms. These attacks include three phases wherein initially an individual suffers from chills, which then results to serious fever and subsequently followed by sweating. The main cause of malaria is the infection spread by single-celled parasite known as ‘Plasmodium’, which creates malaria in animals, human beings and birds as well (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “Understanding Malaria”). The genetic basis of malaria is quite complex in nature as genes interact with the ‘ecological variables’ along with ‘parasite genetic elements’. There has been a widespread transmission of malaria from one region to other as environmental factors and exposures play an imperative role in this transmission process. However, malaria can be effectively diagnosed after detecting the type of parasite, which is responsible for causing infections along with the geographical place wherein an individual gets infected (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “Understanding Malaria”). Malaria was actually discovered in the year 1880 wherein Alphonse Laveran identified parasites within the blood patients suffering from malaria and since then malaria originated as a dreadful disease. There lay numerous medical treatment and prognosis for malaria but these therapies have certain adverse effects on individuals. For instance, Chloroquine (CQ), which is used in treatment process and prognosis, affects health conditions of the individuals in the form of causing skin irritation known as pruritus. Malaria affects the entire body system along with organs like liver, which might have a long-term effect on an individual. This in turn affects a patients’ lifestyle as they become both physically as well as mentally weak (Isle, “Malaria”). Moreover, the life expectancy of an individual with malaria is reduced to 45-54 years. According to the latest research conducted on malaria, it is projected that malaria results to 216 million clinical cases annually along with leading to 655,000 deaths. IPT is one of the emerging therapies in malaria treatment, which according to my own hypothesis, the disease of malaria can be cured by a certain degree. In this regard, the therapies like sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine will be required to cure the disease. Thus, it can be asserted that malaria can be prevented through developing certain preventive actions (Isle, “Malaria”). CONCLUSION From the above analysis and discussion, it could be revealed that malaria has been a widespread issue for varied nations throughout the globe. Nations, in the present day context have made deliberate attempts towards preventing malaria as it hampers the economic growth of a nation. It has been ascertained that around 500 million circumstances of malaria take place in an average year worldwide. Unfortunately, over 1 million children die on an annual basis through becoming the victims of this disease. The application of various therapies including sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine among others can aid in preventing malaria to the fullest extent. Works Cited Isle, Mick. Malaria. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2001. Print. Kirchgatter, Karin and Hernando A. Del Portillo. “Clinical and Molecular Aspects of Severe Malaria.” Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences 77.3 (2005): 455-475. Print. “Understanding Malaria.” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 2007. Web. 02 Jul. 2014. < http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/malaria/documents/malaria.pdf> Thompson, George. Personal interview. 02 Jul. 2014. “Malaria Prevention and Treatment.” UNICEF. 2000. Web. 02 Jul. 2014. Read More