Malaria means bad air in Latin. It was called that because physicians thought the disease carried toxic vapours.

The Europeans had no defense against malaria until the 17th century when a Jesuit priest in Peru came across Cinchona- a medicinal plant used by the natives. It was very bitter and was called quinine. Due to it's bitterness, it was mixed with carbonated water, sugar, alcohol, and lime therefore creating the gin and tonic.

In the early 20th century, scientists began to make anti-malaria drugs, some of which were based on quinine's structure. The drugs worked but for a while because the parasite evolved and resisted.

The first form of resistance was in 1958 from Southeast Asia to South America, and then Africa.
In 1962 a drug called artemisinin was developed but for certain reasons it wasn't used until decades later.

In 2008 in Cambodia, resistance to artemisinin was reported, same in 2012 in Thailand and Myanmar.

The single celled plasmodium species of parasites are the cause of malaria. The female anopheles mosquito carries the infective form of this parasite known as sporozoite in the salivary gland.
Malaria is spread when a mosquito bites a person with the parasite, carries it and bite another person.
It's also transferred from mother to unborn child. Symptoms show up 7 to 18 days after red blood cells has been infected

Only 5 of over 100 species of plasmodium species can cause malaria in humans
• Plasmodium Falciparum
• Plasmodium Vicax
• Plasmodium Malariae
• Plasmodium Ovale
• Plasmodium Knowlesi

Once plasmodium gets into the bloodstream, it infects red blood cells which causes various symptoms and maybe if unattended to, it causes death.
Malaria is known to affect millions of persons, including:
• Young children under 5 years old.
• Pregnant women.
• Patients with HIV/AIDS.
• Travelers with no history of malaria disease.

Tropical and subtropical areas such as Latin American, Sub-Saharan African, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, are the most affected.

DIAGNOSIS
Malaria is diagnosed by putting red blood
Thick blood smear and then locating the parasite sitting in the red blood cell.
Thin blood smear and then directly identifying the plasmodium parasite.

It's important to know the percentage of infected red blood cells due to the fact that patients with over 5% parasitemia can have the worst outcomes.
It is also diagnosed by observing low platelet count (Thrombocytopenia) in the patient.

TREATMENT
Malaria treatment includes:

• Suppressive treatment (Chemoprophylaxis).
This is aimed at killing sporozoites before they infect a parasite. It's given to travellers heading to malaria prone regions.

• Therapeutic treatment.
This is for eliminating merozoites still in the erythrocytic stage. It's given during an active infection.

• Gametocidal treatment.
This kills gametocytes and prevents the disease from spreading and creating forms of resistance.

• Radical treatment.
This is for killing hypnozoites in the liver from plasmodium vivax and plasmodium Ovale infections.

Most cases of uncomplicated malaria resolve with treatment. After recovery, some persons still get the symptoms after a period of time. This is called recurrent malaria. Sometimes, the parasite stay up to a year in the body without showing symptoms.

PREVENTION
Anything that prevents its bite.
Full body covering.
Using insecticide sprays.
Sleeping with insecticide covered mosquito nets.
Empty stagnant collections of Waters in your environment.

Malaria is known to be the fastest killing disease on Earth, known to kill it's victim in three days if not treated.
So many organizations has been set up to reduce malaria infection to the minimum of which this is mostly supported by the government of each regions.

Every year there's a malaria awareness and orientation program which holds at different times in different parts of the world.