Malaria
Keywords
Malaria, mosquito, transmission, disease, not contagious, febrile illness, plasmodium, parasite, symptoms, infection, dormant.
Introduction
Malaria is a tropical disease that is passed on to humans by mosquitoes. While it can be fatal, it is also treatable.
The Symptoms
While in the UK, it is rare to contract the disease, it is possible to contract it if you travel abroad, more specifically the African regions. If you think you have it, you may suffer from one or more of the following symptoms:
- A high temperature
- Headaches
- Vomiting
- Muscle pains
- Diarrhoea
- Feeling hot and shivery
Much like any infection, it lies dormant in your system for a few days before showing itself. For malaria, it takes between 7 to 18 days to show itself. On the rare occasion, it can take up to a year to present itself.
Interesting fact: malaria is not a contagious disease. It cannot be transmitted sexually, or through contact with another person.
More about Malaria
Malaria is an acute febrile illness, meaning that it affects you only for a short period of time, and is caused by Plasmodium parasites. Most commonly, it is the female mosquito that infects humans with a bite.
There are many types of the Plasmodium parasite, but only 5 of these will affect humans cause malaria.
In 2020, according to 
the WHO, nearly half of the world's population are at risk of malaria, with some groups of population at higher risk. These include pregnant women, infants, children under 5 years of age, and patients with HIV/AIDS.
Prevention
It can be controlled. If you do go abroad to a country that has a lot of cases, you can protect yourself with a variety of methods.
Firstly, you can use a net that has been treated with insecticide on your windows in your hotel room. This will stop them coming in during the night.
Second, you can use an indoor residual spray which will work to stop or kill off the mosquitoes on contact.
Third, there is a vaccine for children for malaria. It has been seen to reduce malaria among them.