B3: Malaria Flashcards
symptoms, cures and progression of malaria
what is the name for an organism which spreads diseases?
a vector
what is malaria transmitted by?
the female anopheles mosquito (vector)
what type of pathogen causes malaria and what is it called
the pathogen is protists.
they are called plasmodium
name the host, pathogen and vector of malaria
host: humans
pathogen: plasmodium
vector: mosquito
what are some symptoms of malaria?
chills
fever
exhausting sweats
headaches
muscle aches
tiredness
can be fatal
what is the first step to getting malaria and what are the protists called at this point?
1) a mosquito bites and sucks up blood from a human which contains the plasmodium parasite. these are the gametocytes.
where do the parasites travel to in the mosquite, how do they reproduce and what do they become?
they travel to the salivary glands
they reproduce sexually to become sporozoites
after the malaria is injected into a new host, where does it travel to, where and how does it reproduce and what does it become
they travel to the liver
they reproduce asexually inside the liver cells (which burst, causing liver damage) and become merozoites
where does the malaria go to after the liver?
the merozoites infect the red blood cells
what do the merozoites turn into now, and what happens to the red blood cells
the merozoites become schizonts and they burst open the red blood cells.
this causes raging fever and exhausting sweats.
at this point symptoms are caused. if a person is now bitten the cycle may start again
then they may reproduce sexually again to become gametocytes, the cycle begins again
why is it hard to treat?
there are many different stages of malaria so its hard to target. also, the parasite hides in the body cells.
most drugs target only one form of the malaria parasite, leaving the others.
it may develop resistence to anti-malarial drugs.
preventions of malaria
insect nets/insecticides
removing standing water / breeding grounds
antimalarial drugs, specifically for travellers
