Malaria cases have been recognized and recorded as early as five thousand years ago in several texts, including Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Indian. In a study, it was stated that DNA sequences showed that the effects of malaria are still influencing the human evolution and will be the case even after thousands of years. It was the disease that brought down the King who saved Rome from the hordes of Attila, who was Alexander the Great. The world knows that the primary agent causing malaria infections is from the genus Plasmodium. Its complex lifecycle goes back and forth between mosquito and human.
Different Species
The parasite has four species, one of which is the Plasmodium Vivax. The subject covers a lot of Plasmodium Vivax facts that not all people are knowledgeable about. Among the four species, it is the P. falciparum which is considered as the deadliest. The Plasmodium Vivax is the one recognized as the benign tertian fever in the history, which is just one of the Plasmodium Vivax facts.
What is Plasmodium Vivax?
It is a protozoal parasite and also a human pathogen. Among the four species of Plasmodium, P. Vivax is recorded to be the most common cause of malaria. However, compared to P. falciparum, P. Vivax is less virulent. But, it can still lead to severe diseases as well as death because of plenomegaly, which is the enlargement of the spleen.
It is the same parasite that affected 8 presidents of the United States, including Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. The parasite is only being carried by female anopheles mosquito. That is because these are the only ones that bite.
Vivax malaria and falciparum malaria have different clinical features, but it is mostly concerning the development of the former in the liver. Vivax malaria can affect the liver and when it does, it is referred to as hyponozoites. The development can cause blood infections, which is called relapses. There are cases when several symptoms are experienced caused by Vivax infection. These symptoms are mostly alike those of malaria caused by P. falciparum.
The world is composed of many countries that are known to be malaria-endemic places. An example of this is Thailand. But whatever that country is, only the same species of Plasmodium are always causing the disease. It is either Plasmodium Vivax or Plasmodium falciparum.
Development of Hyponozoites
P. Vivax has the capability to infect the bloodstream of the affected person through sexual stage-parasites. It is the stage when a form that is picked up by mosquitoes is transferred to another victim. This means that even when the patient is promptly treated, it will still not help in preventing the outbreak. The transferred parasite can stay dormant for days or even years in the liver. It is due to this that no symptoms surface. Soon, this will lead to the development of hyponozoites, which allows parasites to stay living.
What people should remember about this is that even a single bite can lead to 6 and even more relapses every year. This then leaves the affected person vulnerable to diseases. The good thing is that there are now treatments that can be used for the disease like Chloroquine.
