This book was created and published on StoryJumper™

©2010 StoryJumper, Inc.   All rights reserved.

Publish your own children's book: 

www.storyjumper.com

What is Malaria?

Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused 

by a parasite that is transmitted to humans by 

the Anopheles mosquito. Malaria is a preventable 

and treatable disease.

Discovery of Malaria

A number of physicians have contributed to 

the discovery of malaria. During the 1880s, 

three physicians, Dr. Leonard White, Theobald 

Smith, Carlos Finlay were researching on the 

origins and causes of malaria and the link 

between malaria and mosquitoes. Charles 

Louis Alphonse Laveran, a French army doctor, 

was the first person to identify parasites inside 

the blood cells of malaria patients and thus 

reached the conclusion that the disease is 

caused by an organism.

Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran identified the 

parasites that cause malaria and Sir Ronald 

Ross discovered how the parasite works. He 

also identified that the parasite is present in a 

particular genus of mosquito, the Anopheles. 

Both men won Nobel Prize for their work.

Causes of Malaria

1. Infection begins with a bite from an infected 

mosquito.

2. The parasite travels from the mosquito to 

your liver, where the parasite begins to 

reproduce.

3. The parasite leaves the liver and travels to 

the bloodstream, where it infects red blood 

cells. The parasite reproduces in the red blood 

cells, which destroys the cells and releases 

more parasites into the bloodstream.

4. If another mosquito bites an infected 

person, that mosquito can then carry the 

infection to someone else.

Symptoms of Malaria

Symptoms usually appear about 12 to 14 days 

after infection. People with malaria have the 

following symptoms:

- abdominal pain

- chills and sweats

- diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting (these symptoms only appear - 

sometimes)

- headache

- high fevers

- low blood pressure causing dizziness if moving from a lying or sitting 

position to a standing position

- muscle aches

- poor appetite

- etc.

You've previewed 10 of 16 pages.

To read more: