Maleria

Maleria

The general symptoms include:

headache

nausea

fever

vomiting and

flu-like symptoms

These symptoms can vary depending on the type of plasmodium that caused the infection.

Time for symptoms to develop 

Plasmodium falciparum normally take 7 to 14 days to show symptoms while Plasmodium vivax and ovale normally take 8 to 14 days (but in some cases can survive for some months in the human horst) and Plasmodium malariae 7 to 30 days.

These figures are as indication only - the onset of symptoms varies tremendously and people should not try and diagnose themselves by using any time-frame figures as these listed above.

Symptoms of malaria infection are not always dramatic, and can easily be dismissed as unimportant.

Should the infection not be attended to deterioration is normally sudden and drastic as the parasites rapidly increase in the blood stream.

Symptoms may appear and disappear in phases and may come and go at various time frames. These cyclic symptoms of malaria are caused by the life cycle of the parasites - as they develop, mature, reproduce and are once again released into the blood stream to infect even more blood and liver cells.

When this happens a high swinging fever can develop, with marked shivering and intense perspiration.

Further serious complication involving the kidneys and brain can then develop leading to delirium and coma.

There are cases reported where symptoms of malaria infection developed 12 months after the patient was bitten by a mosquito, as the plasmodia may remain dormant in the liver for a long period.