The Pathophysiology Of Malaria ( Plasmodium Sp - 2627 Words

BY 373 Cell Biology Research Paper The Pathophysiology of Malaria (Plasmodium sp.) 26 October 2014 Michael Sanders Jacksonville State University Most of us have heard of the disease Malaria and are familiar with the fact that it is transmitted by mosquitos. We also all know that it occurs mainly in third-world, poverty-stricken areas, such as Africa and South America. However, there is a great deal of microbiology behind these deadly, microscopic diseases that makes them particularly fascinating and opens the reader’s eyes and to just how complex these organisms can be, as well as the havoc they can wreak on one’s internal body systems. Malaria infects an estimated 219 million people a year, while it claims about 660,000†¦show more content†¦They then begin to attack and invade the red blood cells in which they will reproduce asexually and continue to release newly-formed merozoites which constantly compound upon themselves and infect more and more red blood cells, causing the symptoms associated with Malaria. Occasionally, these infected red blood cells will replicated into sexual forms of the parasite (known as gametocytes) that will continually run rampant in the blood stream until another mosquito comes along and feeds upon the same host. From here, the mosquito will ingest those gametocytes which will then produces thousands of active forms of sporozoites that will be in turn implanted into a different host’s liver and bloodstream upon being bitten by that mosquito. If this disease is left untreated and mosquitos are able to live freely, Malaria will certainly proliferate in whatever area it is established in. (NIH 2012) Treatment of malaria is largely dependent upon the severity of the case. At this current point in time there is still no actual vaccine for malaria so it is instead treated. In the un-advanced, uncomplicated stages, it tends to simply be treated with anti-malarial oral medications. These include Chloroquine and Artemisinin, with the most common being artemisinin. This particular drug is the most effective and has shown to have significant improvements in conditions in just one to threeShow MoreRelatedPathophysiology Of Diseases And Diseases Essay971 Words   |  4 PagesPATHOPHYSIOLOGY: Malaria Description: Malaria is a protozoan infection distinguished by convulsions of chills, fever, sweating, and by anemia, splenomegaly, acidosis, and a chronic relapsing course. The life cycle of the malarial parasite starts when a female Anopheles mosquito, feeding on a person with malaria, ingests blood containing gametocytes. These cells undergo sexual development within the mosquito, ending as sporozoites located in the insect’s salivary glands. The mosquito then