Malaria is a parasitic disease caused by intracellular parasites of the genus Plasmodia. In humans, the causative agents are mainly four types of plasmodia. The source of the disease is the sick person and the parasite carrier. Human-to-human transmission occurs primarily through the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes.
A person becomes infected while staying in areas where there are mosquitoes of this genus and during that part of the year when the mosquitoes are active and sucking blood. The first signs of the disease appear about 7 to 14 days after the bite. Leading in the clinical picture is the increase in body temperature, the so-called cyclic malarial attacks. But the disease can imitate an acute flu and proceed with headache, pain in the muscles, joints, fatigue, vomiting, disorder.
The disease is often confused with typhoid, brucellosis, visceral leishmaniasis, papata fever, food infections, dysentery, viral hepatitis, biliary tract disorders, anemias. Complications of malaria are brain involvement, hemoglobinuria fever, renal failure, pulmonary effusion, malarial coma and death. The most severe cases of infection occur during blood transfusion and transplantation, in small children up to 1 year old and in pregnant women.
Malaria is found on all continents, it is one of the most widespread diseases in the countries of Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Statistics show that the number of malaria cases in the world in 2013 was 198 million, of which 584,000 resulted in death. No local cases have been registered in our country since 1965. But it should be known that in some places of the planet there is a rise in morbidity due to intensive development of numerous agricultural, irrigation, construction, mining and other projects, in which many people are involved and the risk of their infection increases. Military conflicts, the mass movement of emigrants and the widespread resistance of the causative agents to some preparations lead to an increase in the number of imported cases in countries with a temperate climate.
SMDL “CITY LAB” has rapid tests for malaria of the express immunochromatographic test (Rapid diagnostic tests -RDTs), which detect the presence of antibodies against the four main types of the causative agent.
The time for conducting the test is 15 minutes, 1 drop of blood from the patient is required. When reporting the presence of antibodies – a positive result, the study continues with the application of a microscopic method. It specifies exactly which causative agent is found in the patient’s blood by preparing a glass preparation and subsequent microscopy. This method is differential, confirmatory and takes more time.
