Malaria

Question 1

Vector

Answer 1

Female anopheles mosquito is only vector

Stages 1-mosquito 2-skin 3-human liver 4-red blood cells

Question 2

P.vivax

Answer 2

• can’t be cultured
• can survive cold conditions
• no symptoms when in liver
• fever when merozoites leave the liver and when RBC rupture and release pyrogens into blood
• violent fever 6-8 hours every 2-3 days
• hypozoids not detectable in blood test
• only available drug can kill you if you have G6PD deficiency

Question 3

P.falciparum

Answer 3

• fatal
• merozoites all released from the liver at once
• stupor, fits, coma, death
• infected RBC can stick together causing blocked capillaries, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction

Question 4

Why can’t it be controlled

Answer 4

1. Unable to treat all patients
2. Unable to spray all houses and mosquito breeding sources
3. Lack of medical training
4. As soon as funding is cut due to wars or politics malaria increases
5. No vaccine due to a big genome and you are able to be infected simultaneously with at least 8 strains. Plasmodiums are more complex than viruses and after vaccines the immunity goes after a period of time

Question 5

Bed nets

Answer 5

Don’t work if there is a small hole or if it is not fitted correctly.
Insecticide treated nets, put others at greater risk. Development of resistance to pesticide over time, need to recoat net every year

Question 6

Reasons it should have been eradicated

Answer 6

• host specific and does not have a non human reservoir

- limited vector which rest for many hours after a blood meal giving good opportunity to eradicate it

Question 7

Currently

Answer 7

• Artemisinins-must be taken regularly, not economical to synthesise, we don’t know how it works, expensive, took a long time to approve them, trees take up space. Concern about resistance soon
• Bed nets

Question 8

Malaria plasmodium 4 infect humans but main 2 are;
P.falciparum 90% mortality
P.vivax most wide spread outside Africa

Answer 8

Sporozoite stage effects humans