Admin Table of Contents
How does malaria affect the body?
Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice (yellow coloring of the skin and eyes) because of the loss of red blood cells. If not promptly treated, the infection can become severe and may cause kidney failure, seizures, mental confusion, coma, and death.
Who does malaria affect and why?
Malaria can be more severe in children, especially those aged under 5. Pregnant women and young children are sometimes advised not to travel to malaria-affected areas if the risk is especially high.
How does malaria survive in the body?
Once inside the human body, the parasite soon reaches the liver where it matures and it is then ready to infect red blood cells, also called erythrocytes. The parasite survives by bursting from infected red blood cells and attacking more of them.
How does malaria affect the liver?
Malaria spreads when a mosquito becomes infected with the disease after biting an infected person, and the infected mosquito then bites a noninfected person. The malaria parasites enter that person’s bloodstream and travel to the liver. When the parasites mature, they leave the liver and infect red blood cells.
Who is most affected by malaria?
In many of the countries affected by malaria, it is a leading cause of illness and death. In areas with high transmission, the most vulnerable groups are young children, who have not developed immunity to malaria yet, and pregnant women, whose immunity has been decreased by pregnancy.
What organ does malaria initially infect?
The infection develops in the liver before re-entering the bloodstream and invading the red blood cells. The parasites grow and multiply in the red blood cells. At regular intervals, the infected blood cells burst, releasing more parasites into the blood. Infected blood cells usually burst every 48-72 hours.
What tissues are affected by malaria?
Mature forms of parasites (asexual stage and gametocytes) can adhere to the vascular endothelium of several organs (lung, heart, brain, lung, liver, and kidney), the subcutaneous adipose tissues and the placenta. This feature of the disease in vivo has been related exclusively to P. falciparum.
Where does malaria hide in the body?
During Africa’s dry season, when mosquitoes are scarce, malaria parasites have a hard time spreading to new hosts. So the parasites hide out in the human body by keeping the cells they infect from clinging to blood vessels, researchers report October 26 in Nature Medicine.
Which part of the body is affected by malaria causing microbes?
Once you’re bitten, the parasite enters the bloodstream and travels to the liver. The infection develops in the liver before re-entering the bloodstream and invading the red blood cells. The parasites grow and multiply in the red blood cells.