Epidemiological Assessment of the Deadliest Parasites in African Region

Onifade EO, Stephen OO and Onifade EO

Published on: 2022-08-07

Abstract

Introduction: Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by deadliest parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female mosquitoes. In African region, most important human parasite among the sporozoa is Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria.

Epidemiology/Geographic Distribution: Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

Life Cycle: The malaria parasite has a complex, multistage life cycle occurring within two living beings, the vector mosquitoes and the vertebrate hosts.

Pathophysiology of Malaria: All the manifestations of malarial illness are caused by the infection of the red blood cells by the asexual forms of the malaria parasite and the involvement of the red cells makes malaria a potentially multisystem disease.

Diagnosis and Treatment: Malaria can be diagnosed by detection of Plasmodium falciparum by Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT) and microscopy blood samples to test for malaria parasites; thick and thin blood films are often prepared on a glass slide for parasite identification and speciation using Giemsa technique. Drug of choice for acute malaria caused by sensitive strains is Chloroquine.

Conclusion: Almost half of the world’s populations are at risk of malaria. Apart from young children and pregnant women, non-immune travelers who are from malaria-free region are another set of individuals that are susceptible to the disease. So, eliminating malaria in African region should be a public concern. Thus, COVID-19 should not distract public health attentions to focus on research and development toward new tools to curb the effect of malaria in Africa and other part of the world.