Epidemics Throughout History

Malaria

A thin-film Giemsa stained micrograph of ring-forms, and gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum.

Brief Overview

• Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases and an enormous public-health problem.

• Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions

• It infects between 300 and 500 million people every year and causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• The disease is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium.

• The most serious forms of the disease are caused by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, but other related species can also infect humans.

• This group of human-pathogenic Plasmodium species is usually referred to as malaria parasites.

• Malaria is not just a disease commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and thus a major hindrance to economic development.

• This sometimes fatal disease can be prevented and cured. Bednets, insecticides, and antimalarial drugs are effective tools to fight malaria in areas where it is transmitted. Travelers to a malaria-risk area should avoid mosquito bites and take a preventive antimalarial drug.

• During 1988,