Malaria causes

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Yazan Daaboul, Serge Korjian, Alison Leibowitz [2]

Overview

Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. P. vivax is the most common cause of infection, responsible for about 80% of all malaria cases. P. falciparum, the most significant cause of disease, is responsible for about 15% of infections and 90% of deaths.

Causes

P. vivax is the most common cause of infection, responsible for about 80% of all malaria cases. P. falciparum, the most significant cause of disease, is responsible for about 15% of infections and 90% of deaths. The remainder of human malaria infections are caused by P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi.

The following table distinguishes between the different strains of Plasmodium species, all of which are causative agents of malarial infection.

Comparison of Plasmodium Species Implicated in Human Malaria ("Malaria". Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nov. 29 2013. Retrieved Jul 24 2014. )

Strain	Clinical Significance
P. falciparum	Tertian/subtertian fever (every 48 hours), causes severe malaria in up to 24% of cases, and is frequently drug resistant.
P. vivax	Tertian fever (every 48 hours), results in severe malaria in up to 22% of cases, and is frequently drug resistant. Relapse is common due to the dormant liver phase.
P. ovale	Tertian fever (every 48 hours), rarely causes severe malaria or drug resistance. Relapse is common due to dormant liver phase.
P. malariae	Quartan fever (every 72 hrs), rarely results in severe malaria or drug resistance. Although dormant liver phase is uncommon, infection persistence is frequently demonstrated.
P. knowlesi	Daily fevers, may result in severe malaria in up to 10% of cases, although resistance is rare.

^{Adapted from Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - Malaria}