Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma or death. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Five species of Plasmodium can infect and be transmitted by humans. Severe disease is largely caused by P. falciparum while the disease caused by P. vivax, P. ovale,[1] and P. malariae is generally a milder disease that is rarely fatal. P. knowlesi is a zoonosis that causes malaria in macaques but can also infect humans.[2]
Malaria transmission can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by distribution of mosquito nets and insect repellents, or by mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water (where mosquitoes breed). Despite a clear need, no vaccine offering a high level of protection currently exists. Efforts to develop one are ongoing.[3] A number of medications are also available to prevent malaria in travelers to malaria-endemic countries (prophylaxis).
A variety of antimalarial medications are available. Severe malaria is treated with intravenous or intramuscular quinine or, since the mid-2000s, the artemisinin derivative artesunate,[4] which is superior to quinine in both children and adults.[5] Resistance has developed to several antimalarial drugs, most notably chloroquine[6] and artemisinin.[7]
There were an estimated 225 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2009.[8] An estimated 655,000 people died from malaria in 2010,[9] a decrease from the 781,000 who died in 2009 according to the World Health Organization's 2011 World Malaria Report, accounting for 2.23% of deaths worldwide.[8] However, a 2012 meta-study from the University of Washington and University of Queensland estimates that malaria deaths are significantly higher. Published in The Lancet, the study estimates that 1,238,000 people died from malaria in 2010.[10][11]
Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, with about 60% of deaths being young children under the age of five.[11] Plasmodium falciparum, the organism responsible for the most severe form of malaria, causes the vast majority of deaths associated with the disease.[12] Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, and can indeed be a cause of poverty[13] and a major hindrance to economic development.
