Malaria is an acute transmissible infectious disease characterized by periodic attacks of fever, enlargement of the liver and spleen, and anemia. It is caused by four types of plasmodia: three-day malaria - R. vivax, four-day - R. malariae, a special type of three-day - R. ovale, tropical - R. falciparum.
Epidemiology
The source of infection is a patient or a carrier of parasites, in the tropics - also some species of monkeys. Infection occurs when a female malaria mosquito bites.
Clinic
The disease is manifested by a well-known triad: typical attacks of fever with clear periodicity, hepatosplenomegaly, development of anemia.
For 2-3 days, prodromal phenomena may be noted in the form of weakness, fatigue, worsening of sleep and appetite, headache, arthralgia, myalgia.
- Fever attacks occur, as a rule, in the morning and begin with chills lasting 1.5-2 hours, they can be preceded by muscle pain and a severe headache.
- The face is hyperemic, the skin becomes "goosebumps", the tip of the nose, lips and fingers are cyanotic.
- Further body temperature quickly reaches 40-41 ° S.
- There are symptoms of damage to the central nervous system, vomiting, tachycardia, a drop in blood pressure, possible collapse, urticaria, and herpetic rashes on the lips often appear.
- By the end of the attack, the patient sweats profusely, the temperature drops sharply, sometimes to subnormal numbers; the symptoms of intoxication decrease and the patient usually falls asleep.
- During the period of apyrexia, the patient is disturbed only by general weakness, working capacity is preserved. The duration of the attack depends on the type of pathogen.
- Enlargement of the spleen and liver is determined already after the 2nd-3rd attack. The spleen is painful, sometimes very large.
- In the blood, as a rule, hemolytic hypochromic anemia with an increased content of reticulocytes, leukopenia, relative lymphocytosis, thrombocytopenia, aniso- and poikilocytosis; ESR increased.
Diagnosis is based on clinical and epidemiological data:
- being in an area unfavorable for malaria,
- typical febrile attacks at equal intervals,
- hemolytic anemia, splenomegaly.
To confirm malaria, the parasitoscopy method is used, which consists in examining smears and a thick drop of blood taken both during fever and during apyrexia.
Specific diagnosis of malaria can be carried out with the help of serological tests, of which the indirect immunofluorescence reaction is most often used.
Treatment
Patients are treated in hospital conditions.
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