Malaria

Life cycle

  • sporozoite infectious form
  • not get sick for several weeks

  • schizonts: many nuclei, ready to rupture
  • in liver, hasn't reached RBC

  • daughter cells

  • can see on blood smears
  • cyclic fever whenever schizonts rupture

  • erythrocyte cycle cause of fever pattern

Symptoms

Vivax

  • primaquine the one drug that treats vivax, doesn't treat active cell

Malariae

Falciparum

Diagnosis

Protection

  • Duffy antigen on RBC necessary for infection

Treatment

  • plasmodium converts Hgb heme to nontoxic form using heme polymerase

  • mefloquine prophylaxis for travelers. Very vivid dreams SE