Plasmodium vivax is a common form of malaria transmitted by infected mosquitoes, affecting many people each year. It can remain in the liver for years if not treated and is resistant to some drugs. Symptoms include fever, chills, fatigue, and sweating. Treatment involves a 14-day course of chloroquine and primaquine, and prevention includes mosquito abatement programs and prophylactic use of chloroquine. There is no vaccine, but doctors advocate for faster development of vaccines for all forms of malaria.
Plasmodium vivax is a parasitic protozoan transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes, and is the cause of one of the most common forms of malaria. While it’s not one of the most dangerous forms, it affects many people each year and can be somewhat resistant to the drugs typically used to treat malaria. Once contracted, it can remain in the liver for years if not treated with the appropriate medications. Because the condition often occurs in poorer parts of the world, these medications aren’t always available, and some people continue to suffer from the effects of plasmodium vivax for years. These infections affect poor countries in other ways because many hospitalizations are due to initial symptoms of malaria, which is costly.
Areas where people can get plasmodium vivax include Asia, the Middle East, islands such as Australia, New Guinea and others (Oceania), Central and South America, and limited parts of Africa. There have been occasional reports of p. vivax malaria elsewhere, such as in North America, but most cases occur in the areas mentioned above. People traveling to places known to have a heavy load of plasmodium vivax or other malarial infections should see a doctor.
When people are first infected with plasmodium vivax, they frequently show symptoms of high fever, chills, fatigue, and profuse sweating. These symptoms often last for a period of about two to three days but can be complicated if a person has additional illnesses. Other symptoms such as vomiting, body aches, dizziness, or fever that comes and goes occurs in some individuals. After this primary infection, the disease may go dormant, but symptoms may recur regularly and other conditions such as jaundice may develop because plasmodium vivax settles in the liver
In most cases, people could have their disease come back without treatment, but they don’t develop life-threatening complications. Others may have complicated disease and conditions such as liver failure. The five different types of malaria can be diagnosed with small blood samples, which can help identify the causative parasite and determine the most effective treatment.
The usual treatment for plasmodium vivax is a 14-day course of the drugs chloroquine and primaquine. In areas where P. vivax is abundant, strains of the parasite are resistant to chloroquine and other drugs are used instead. With this treatment, the disease can be completely cured, both in the initial and later stages. Further blood tests check for the additional presence of the parasite, but once it is gone after a course of treatment, the disease is considered completely cured, even if some people become reinfected.
There is no vaccine for plasmodium vivax, although people traveling to areas with high malaria incidence can use chloroquine prophylactically. Countries also promote prevention with mosquito abatement programs and these can help reduce the risk of contracting the disease. However, many doctors advocate faster work on developing vaccines for all forms of malaria.
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