Understand Malaria So As To Fight It Right.

In the Steem kids and parents Writing Expedition I will love to explore a health related topic, one that affects west Africans the more.

Malaria is a communicable disease as such it can be transmitted from one person to another but the most common cases of infection comes from mosquitoes. Malaria is caused by a parasite that is carried by mosquitoes.
The parasite is called Plasmodium and note that not all mosquitoes have Plasmodium. The Anopheles gambiae and the Anopheles arabiensis are the main carrier of the Plasmodium parasite, and this two types of mosquito are found in Africa.
The Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus found in other parts of the world can also carry the parasite.

Getting Infected by a Mosquito

Lets clarify the fact that mosquitoes don't depend on our blood for food, they mainly feed on nectar and other juices from plants. It's only the pregnant female of these species that needs some nutrients found in the blood to develop their eggs.

Not all mosquitoes need blood

The blood has a feature known as clothing, if the blood should clothe when the mosquito is sucking it, it will mean death for the mosquito. So when a mosquito bites a person or animal, she injects some saliva into the person's skin. The injected saliva contains an anticoagulant which will prevents the blood from clotting. But at the same time, it also contains the Plasmodium parasite.

One the parasite enters the person's bloodstream, it will travels to the liver where it multiplies. The person will start to develop some symptoms when it starts infecting enough red blood cells.

The infected red blood cells become defective and can not carry oxygen to different organs in the body.

The Symptoms

This failure to distribute the needed oxygen causes the symptoms of malaria, like the fatigue, chills and fever

Malaria Can kill

Other symptoms may include sweating, headaches, nausea and vomiting you may have body aches and general weakness. Yellowing of the eyes caused by mild jaundice due to poor liver function. You may have a higher breathing rate and a general feeling of being unwell

The Paroxysm Cycle

Malaria symptoms comes in a cycle that starts with the "cold stage". At this point the person feels cold and and may shiver. Next is the "hot stage", and in this stage the person has some kind of high fever and feels hot. This is then closely followed by the "sweating stage", in which the person now sweats profusely. Followed by the "recovery stage", where the person feels a little better and may think it's over.

The feel better time often comes during the day and you start felling bad in the evening and the cycle starts over again for days or weeks.

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