Typical symptoms of malaria

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Worldwide in recent years, hundreds of millions of people have been infected and hundreds of thousands of people have died from severe malaria and its complications. So to be able to protect yourself and your family from going to the severe state that malaria can bring, you should arm yourself with some knowledge about typical malaria symptoms including the symptoms of malaria. Symptoms in children and adults as well as ways to prevent malaria are below.

1. Typical malaria symptoms

Malaria parasites will first enter the liver cells and grow here, after breaking the liver cells Parasites move into the blood and continue to invade and grow in red blood cells, after the red blood cells burst , clinical symptoms appear. Because the characteristics of high fever in malaria as well as the different physical characteristics between adults and children, the symptoms presented in these two subjects also have some differences.
1.1 Whole body chills - Malaria symptoms in adults and children At this time, the macrophages are increased strongly into the blood to destroy the malaria parasites, this causes the body temperature to rise, so the body's body temperature rises. It can cool itself by increasing sweating and increasing blood flow under the skin, causing chills and shivering throughout the body.
1.2 High fever to 39°C-41°C - Malaria symptoms in adults and children Excessive numbers of malaria parasites lead to prolonged elevation of body temperature, including hypothermic dead muscles The body's temperature also cannot completely reduce heat, causing high fever, this malaria symptom usually lasts 2-3 hours.
1.3 Red face, rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing - Malaria symptoms in children and adults Increased blood flow under the skin along with large numbers of red blood cells broken by the parasite makes the heart work faster in malaria .
1.4 Thirst, dry skin - Malaria symptoms in adults and children The body becomes dehydrated quickly when sweating a lot, it will make you feel different from water along with dry skin.
1.5 Malaria symptoms in adults and children - Headaches, muscle aches When the parasites need more time to multiply in the liver and spread throughout the body. There will be prolonged headaches, accompanied by muscle aches, especially leg and back muscles.
Headaches are aggravated when the malaria parasite destroys red blood cells in the liver and continues to enter the bloodstream.
1.6 Nausea, diarrhea - symptoms of malaria in adults and children As a secondary symptom of the disease, diarrhea will not be too serious with symptoms such as bloody stools, but nausea and diarrhea will occur. several times a day along with the combination, it makes the patient tired, uncomfortable.
In children, this digestive disorder is more likely to occur than in adults because the digestive function in children is not yet complete.

1.7 Primary malaria - high fever for several days Usually appears in children and people for the first time, cyclical and continuous for several days.
1.8 Hepatomegaly The liver is the first organ exposed to the malaria parasite after entering the body. Congestion, increased liver activity, as well as phagocytic activities in the liver against malaria parasites cause liver enlargement. In addition, blood stasis in the hepatic sinusoids by parasitic infected red blood cells, or parasites that disrupt liver cells, red blood cells collide with nerves, leading to symptoms of malaria, hepatomegaly, pain On palpation
1.9 Splenomegaly Splenomegaly is a typical malaria symptom, also considered an indicator of malaria epidemiology. The spleen is a place to retain many parasitic infected red blood cells, including normal red blood cells that are sensitive to soluble antimalarial antibodies, the spleen also produces antimalarial antibodies and macrophages. But because of the retention of blood in the splenic sinuses, the spleen was enlarged.
1.10 Jaundice - Malaria symptoms in adults and children Due to the large number of broken red blood cells, the bilirubin in the blood increases, it causes high liver enzymes and acute kidney failure. It can also cause damage to children's brain cells, slowing down intellectual development, eye movement disorders, etc., and more seriously, death.
1.11 Hypoglycemia When infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the need for glucose consumption of both the malaria parasite and the patient's body increases during fever.
1.12 Other symptoms of malaria in children Children over 6 months of age are vulnerable to malaria parasites because their immune systems are still weak and can't control themselves in preventing mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasites, leading to susceptible to parasites and develop malaria symptoms, then rapidly turn severe.
Seizures: Children are very sensitive to changes in body temperature, a high temperature (fever above 39°C) can stimulate the brain to cause seizures in children. Therefore, parents should pay attention to the symptoms of malaria in this child. Rapid anemia: The blood formation in children is not complete, so when the parasite attacks, destroys red blood cells along with the phagocytosis of red blood cells, causing the symptoms of malaria in children, which are anemia, to appear quickly. Nutritional disorders: A large number of broken red blood cells can cause disorders in iron metabolism and nutrition in children. Coughing a lot leads to tracheitis and bronchitis.
1.13 Severe malaria - dangerous symptoms and complications Persistent high fever, impaired consciousness that may be accompanied by convulsions (Severe cerebral malaria) Cardiovascular collapse (cardiac collapse malaria) Hypoglycaemia , severe metabolic acidosis (metabolic malaria) Hematuria, anemia, acute hypoxia (haemoglobinuria) Yellow skin, yellow sclera, yellow urine, nausea, vomiting (fever) liver and biliary malaria) Lower blood pressure, pale skin, profuse sweating, cold body, headache (cold-type malaria)

2. Prevention and treatment

2.1 Prevention Periodic spraying around the house Avoid forming stagnant ponds in the house, if any, clean up immediately. Should sleep under mosquito nets, if in endemic areas, mosquito nets should be impregnated. Wear long-sleeved clothing to avoid mosquito bites Learn and collect information locally whenever there is malaria. If you suspect that you or a loved one has malaria, quickly find a reputable hospital for timely diagnosis and treatment When blood transfusions need to be carefully checked, especially for people with a history of malaria or who have lived in fever areas. cold. 2.2 Treatment When you have a fever caused by malaria, you should not apply a membrane to avoid making the body unable to breathe. Do not close the door of the room, turn on the fan to ventilate the air. For children with a high fever above 38.5 degrees and accompanied by the above-mentioned malaria symptoms, you should quickly give them paracetamol to reduce the fever, then immediately take them to a medical facility. For children with a fever at 37, 5-38.5°C, please replenish water for the child by drinking a lot of water or breast-feeding, remove the baby's clothes. When having severe malaria symptoms at home, far from the hospital or clinic, it is recommended to take 1 dose of a combination antimalarial drug: Dihydroartemisinin + Piperaquine phosphate, then immediately transfer to the hospital. Vinmec International General Hospital is one of the hospitals that not only ensures professional quality with a team of leading doctors, modern equipment and technology, but also stands out for its examination and consulting services. and comprehensive, professional medical treatment; civilized, polite, safe and sterile medical examination and treatment space. Customers when choosing to perform tests here can be completely assured of the accuracy of test results.

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