Malaria
Digestive System
Liver
Stomach
Circulatory System
Blood
Red blood cells
Heart
Causes
Mosquito bite
Malaria is transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitos. It enters the bloodstream when the mosquito sucks the blood of a human.
Symptoms
Fever
Vomiting
Headache
Muscle Pain
Nausea
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Yellow Skin/eyes
Diagnosis
Blood sample
The blood of a patient can be examined under a microscope to determine if they have malaria or not. The parasite has a distinct shape which can be seen under a microscope.
Treatment
Drugs
Patients are given drugs such as quinine, to kill the parasite. However, this doesn't always work because the parasite has grown resistant to it over time.
Vaccine
Currently, there is no good vaccine that can provide full protection but, there is a vaccine that offers partial protection against some types of plasmodium.
Nervous System
Brain
Damage to the brain affects multiple systems at once
Immune System
Fever
Respiratory System
Lungs
Integumentary System
Skin
Life Cycle of Plasmodium
Infected mosquito bites a human
When an infected mosquito drinks human blood for a blood meal, Plasmodium parasites in the saliva of a mosquito enter the human bloodstream.
Plasmodium sporozoites take shelter in liver cells, to avoid being recognized by the immune system.
Infects liver cells
Asexually reproduces in liver cells
Using the liver cells resources, the sporozoites asexually reproduce and create thousands of copies of itself.
Bursts out of liver cells and infects red blood cells
Once they are done developing into merozoites inside the liver, they burst out of the liver cells and use the cell membrane to avoid detection from the immune system. Once they enter the bloodstream, they start infecting red blood cells.
Asexually reproduce inside of red blood cells, while some parasites differentiate genders
The parasite uses the red blood cells to replicate itself, while some of the parasites develop into gametocytes, which can be either male or female.