Disease Information for Malaria: Definition

A protozoan disease caused in humans by four species of the genus PLASMODIUM (P falciparum (MALARIA, FALCIPARUM); P vivax (MALARIA, VIVAX); P ovale, and P malariae) and transmitted by the bite of an infected female mosquito of the genus Anopheles; Malaria is endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, Oceania, and certain Caribbean islands; It is characterized by extreme exhaustion associated with paroxysms of high fever, sweating, shaking chills, and anemia; Malaria in animals is caused by other species of plasmodia;Synonyms: Acute Malaria; Ague; Autochthonous Malaria; Chronic Malaria; Imported Malaria; Induced Malaria; Intermittent Malaria; Jungle Fever; Paludism; Relapsing Malaria; Swamp Fever; Therapeutic Malaria; Subsets: Aesthetivoautumnal Fever; Algid Malaria; Benign Tertian Malaria; Bilious Remittent Malaria; Blackwater Fever ; Cerebral Malaria; Double Tertian Malaria; Dysentric Algid Malaria; Falciparum Fever; Gastric Malaria; Hemorrhagic Malaria; Malaria Comatosa; Malignant Tertian Fever; Malignant Tertian Malaria ; Nonan Malaria ; Ovale Tertian Malaria; Pernicious Malaria; Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria; Plasmodium Malariae Malaria; Plasmodium Ovale Malaria ; Plasmodium Vivax Malaria; Quartan Fever ; Quartan Malaria; Quotidian Fever; Quotidian Malaria; Remittent Malaria; Tertian Fever; Tertian Malaria; Vivax Fever; comment: Malaria is a communicable parasitic disorder spread through the bite of the Anopheles mosquito; Major symptoms may vary depending on which species of parasite causes the infection and the stage of development of the parasite; Chills and fever commonly occur, although not every case follows the same pattern;Although the disorder was once thought to be under control throughout the world, malaria is a widespread infection especially in the tropics where certain types of mosquitos are becoming resistant to pesticides; The annual number of cases reported in the United States has increased in recent years;[NORD]

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