Laveran's drawing of various stages of P. falciparum as seen on fresh blood (1880).
Blood smear from a P. falciparum culture (K1 strain - asexual forms) - several red blood cells have ring stages inside them. Close to the center is a schizont and on the left a trophozoite.
Ring forms in red blood cells (Giemsa stain)
Life cycle of Plasmodium

Although it is less virulent than Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the five human malaria parasites, P. vivax malaria infections can lead to severe disease and death, often due to splenomegaly (a pathologically enlarged spleen).

- Plasmodium vivax

In 1900, the Italian zoologist Giovanni Battista Grassi categorized Plasmodium species based on the timing of fever in the patient; malignant tertian malaria was caused by Laverania malariae (now P. falciparum), benign tertian malaria by Haemamoeba vivax (now P. vivax), and quartan malaria by Haemamoeba malariae (now P. malariae).

- Plasmodium falciparum

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Malaria parasite connecting to a red blood cell

Malaria

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Mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals.

Mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals.

Malaria parasite connecting to a red blood cell
Main symptoms of malaria
The life cycle of malaria parasites. Sporozoites are introduced by a mosquito bite. They migrate to the liver, where they multiply into thousands of merozoites. The merozoites infect red blood cells and replicate, infecting more and more red blood cells. Some parasites form gametocytes, which are taken up by a mosquito, continuing the life cycle.
Micrograph of a placenta from a stillbirth due to maternal malaria. H&E stain. Red blood cells are anuclear; blue/black staining in bright red structures (red blood cells) indicate foreign nuclei from the parasites.
Electron micrograph of a Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cell (center), illustrating adhesion protein "knobs"
The blood film is the gold standard for malaria diagnosis.
Ring-forms and gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum in human blood
An Anopheles stephensi mosquito shortly after obtaining blood from a human (the droplet of blood is expelled as a surplus). This mosquito is a vector of malaria, and mosquito control is an effective way of reducing its incidence.
Man spraying kerosene oil in standing water, Panama Canal Zone, 1912
Walls where indoor residual spraying of DDT has been applied. The mosquitoes remain on the wall until they fall down dead on the floor.
A mosquito net in use.
An advertisement for quinine as a malaria treatment from 1927.
Deaths due to malaria per million persons in 2012
Past and current malaria prevalence in 2009
Ancient malaria oocysts preserved in Dominican amber
British doctor Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria.
Chinese medical researcher Tu Youyou received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2015 for her work on the antimalarial drug artemisinin.
Artemisia annua, source of the antimalarial drug artemisinin
U.S. Marines with malaria in a field hospital on Guadalcanal, October 1942
Members of the Malaria Commission of the League of Nations collecting larvae on the Danube delta, 1929
1962 Pakistani postage stamp promoting malaria eradication program
Malaria clinic in Tanzania
Child with malaria in Ethiopia
World War II poster
Disability-adjusted life year for malaria per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004
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<10
0–100
100–500
500–1000
1000–1500
1500–2000
2000–2500
2500–2750
2750–3000
3000–3250
3250–3500
≥3500

Most deaths are caused by P. falciparum, whereas P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae generally cause a milder form of malaria.

Plasmodium

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Genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects.

Genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects.

Plasmodium is a eukaryote but with unusual features.
Life cycle of a species that infects humans
Ring forms of Plasmodium inside human red blood cells (Giemsa stain)
Sporozoites, one of several different forms of the parasite, from a mosquito
Oldest mosquito fossil with Plasmodium dominicana, 15-20 million year old
Many birds, from raptors to passerines like the red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), can carry malaria.
A clinic for treating human malaria in Tanzania
Over 3000 species of lizard, including the Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis), carry some 90 kinds of malaria.
The mosquito Anopheles stephensi is among the blood-feeding insects that can be infected by a species of Plasmodium.

Over the course of the 20th century, many other species were discovered in various hosts and classified, including five species that regularly infect humans: P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale, and P. knowlesi.

Chloroquine

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Medication primarily used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to its effects.

Medication primarily used to prevent and treat malaria in areas where malaria remains sensitive to its effects.

Medical quinolines
Hemozoin formation in P. falciparum: many antimalarials are strong inhibitors of hemozoin crystal growth.
Resochin tablet package

]]Chloroquine has been used in the treatment and prevention of malaria from Plasmodium vivax, ''[[Plasmodium ovale|P.

It is generally not used for Plasmodium falciparum as there is widespread resistance to it.

Antimalarial medication

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Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young children and pregnant women.

Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young children and pregnant women.

Practice in treating cases of malaria is most often based on the concept of combination therapy (e.g., using agents such as artemether and lumefantrine against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum infection), since this offers advantages including reduced risk of treatment failure, reduced risk of developed resistance, as well as the possibility of reduced side-effects.

Quinine is an alkaloid that acts as a blood schizonticidal and weak gametocide against Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium malariae.

Plasmodium malariae

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Parasitic protozoan that causes malaria in humans.

Parasitic protozoan that causes malaria in humans.

Geographical areas of malaria transmission
As a protist, the plasmodium is a eukaryote of the phylum Apicomplexa. Unusual characteristics of this organism in comparison to general eukaryotes include the rhoptry, micronemes, and polar rings near the apical end. The plasmodium is known best for the infection it causes, malaria.
Plasmodium malariae wiki

It is one of several species of Plasmodium parasites that infect other organisms as pathogens, also including Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, responsible for most malarial infection.

Interpretation of antibody panel to detect patient antibodies towards the most relevant human blood group systems, including Duffy.

Duffy antigen system

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Protein that in humans is encoded by the ACKR1 gene.

Protein that in humans is encoded by the ACKR1 gene.

Interpretation of antibody panel to detect patient antibodies towards the most relevant human blood group systems, including Duffy.

The protein is also the receptor for the human malarial parasites Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium knowlesi and simian malarial parasite Plasmodium cynomolgi.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, now part of India, were originally inhabited by 14 aboriginal tribes. Several of these have gone extinct. One surviving tribe—the Jarawas—live in three jungle areas of South Andaman and one jungle area in Middle Andaman. The area is endemic for malaria. The causative species is Plasmodium falciparum: there is no evidence for the presence of Plasmodium vivax. Blood grouping revealed an absence of both Fy(a) and Fy(b) antigens in two areas and a low prevalence in two others.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency

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Most common enzyme deficiency worldwide, is an inborn error of metabolism that predisposes to red blood cell breakdown.

Most common enzyme deficiency worldwide, is an inborn error of metabolism that predisposes to red blood cell breakdown.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
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Both variants are believed to stem from a strongly protective effect against Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria.