Malaria is a serious disease that is still common in many parts of the world. As a matter of fact, malaria is a serious threat in some places mainly because of people traveling in an out of these place more frequently than every before. Recognizing the symptoms of malaria is crucial, and in this article, we’ll discuss a few of those symptoms.
While the first symptoms of malaria are pretty uncomfortable, they aren’t usually scary; it is the later symptoms that can really hurt you. In some cases, people develop what is known as cerebral malaria, which can cause seizures and sometimes comas. This type of malaria is often fatal if not treated soon enough. Malaria will cause liver failure and kidney failure because because malaria parasites almost always attack these organs. If you don’t want to deal with these problems it is very important to treat your malaria as soon as possible. If you are experiencing any malaria symptoms at all, it is important to get your blood tested. That way, if you have the disease, you can get an effective treatment before it progresses to a more deadly stage.
Flu like symptoms (muscle aches, chills and fevers) are the most common symptoms of malaria. Beyond this, there is also coughing, vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Obviously all of these symptoms can be associated with a bunch of other diseases and infections. One of the things that makes malaria distinctive is that the symptoms often display themselves in cycles. As soon as any of these symptoms shows up you need to see a doctor just so you can rule out malaria. Typically the first wave of symptoms will clear up on its own but this is not meant to be comforting. If the disease is allowed to progress, you could develop jaundice–the yellowing of the whites of the eyes and the skin–and that is a sign of liver damage.
One of the most deadly aspects of malaria is that the symptoms may not appear for a long time after you’ve been bitten by an infected mosquito. In general, you’ll notice malaria symptoms between 1 and 3 weeks following the mosquito bite. In rare instances, however, they may not appear until after 18 months. Eighteen months is a long time that most people wouldn’t think that they have malaria and may simply attribute the symptoms to something else. That’s why it’s essential to keep in mind that certain malaria parasites can live in your body site web for a very long time in a dormant or hibernating state.
The symptoms of malaria can be distressing, but if you get treatment for them soon enough, there’s usually a good prognosis. The absolute worst thing you can do is ignore your symptoms or allow yourself to believe that they can be signs of something else. The real truth is that if you have traveled somewhere in which malaria is present, you need to consider the very real possibility that you might have picked up this disease.