Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Specialist Dr. Lecturer Member Songül Özer made remarkable statements about malaria.
Dr. made the definition of malaria. Lecturer Member Özer said, “Malaria is an infectious disease caused by blood parasites of the Plasmodium genus, transmitted to humans by female mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus. There are five different Plasmodium (blood parasites) that are transmitted to humans through the bite of female Anopheles mosquitoes. “Parasites that enter the body by mosquitoes primarily infect red blood cells,” he said.
“SEVERE MALARIA CAN BE FATAL IF NOT TREATED IN TIME”
Talking about the symptoms that can be seen in malaria, Dr. Lecturer Member Özer shared the following information: “The first symptoms that occur in the person who gets the parasite are headache, weakness, fatigue, abdominal pain, abdominal cramps and muscle and joint pain. High fever, chills, shivering, sweating, loss of appetite, vomiting and gradually increasing weakness are then added to these atypical symptoms. If the disease is detected at this stage and treatment is started, it will not progress or get worse. But if it is not noticed and treatment is not started, blood parasites in the body will continue to multiply. The disease can turn into severe malaria within days or even hours. In severe malaria, one or more of the following symptoms may usually develop: coma (cerebral malaria), metabolic acidosis, severe anemia, hypoglycemia, acute renal failure, and pulmonary edema. “If severe malaria is left untreated, the vast majority of patients will die.”
“HIGH FEVER MAY BE OBSERVED”
Dr. stated that it is typical for a malaria patient to have a fever that rises every 3-4 days. Lecturer Member Özer said, “The patient, who is completely normal on fever-free days, enters a febrile period with increased fever, severe muscle pain, extreme weakness and sometimes bleeding. Although it varies depending on the type of malaria, this febrile period lasts approximately 4-5 days. “Then the fever drops with excessive sweating and the fever-free period begins again,” he said.
“IT IS TRANSMITTED BY MOSQUITOES”
Referring to how malaria is transmitted to humans, Dr. Lecturer Member Dr. Özer said, “Malaria is generally transmitted to humans through the bite of infected female anopheles mosquitoes. By sucking the blood of people carrying the parasite in their blood, anopheles take the parasite into their own bodies, grow it, and transmit this parasite by inserting it into another person. Apart from mosquitoes, it can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplantation, grafts and shared use of contaminated syringes or needles. “It can also be transmitted from the mother to the baby through the transfer of infected erythrocytes through the placenta before or during birth.”
“LOCALLY ACQUIRED MALARIA IS NOT OBSERVED IN TURKEY”
Stating that malaria is still very common in the African continent, Dr. Lecturer Member Özer said: “There has been no case of locally sourced malaria in our country, thanks to the effective malaria fight since the first years of the republic. The source of all malaria cases diagnosed in our country is other countries, primarily Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there has been a decrease in the number of malaria cases and deaths worldwide since 2000. Although WHO estimates that the number of malaria cases decreased to 216 million and the number of deaths decreased to 3 million 445 thousand in 2016, malaria still continues to be an important infectious disease in the world. According to the World Malaria Report published by the World Health Organization, 90 percent of malaria cases in 2016 were seen in Africa, 7 percent in South-East Asia and 2 percent in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.”