Malaria causes

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

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. However, P. falciparum is the most important cause of disease, and 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. However, P. falciparum is the most important cause of disease, and 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 malaria 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	Appearance of Erythrocyte (RBC)	Appearance of Parasite	Clinical Significance
P. falciparum	Normal appearance with Maurer's clefts: Ring, trophozoite, and schizont forms. Distorted appearance: Gametocyte form	Chromatin dots and "appliqué" (accolé): Ring form Clump of mass and dark pigment: Trophozoite and schizont forms Crescent or sausage shape: Gametocyte form	Tertian/subtertian fever (every 48 hours), causes severe malaria in up to 24% of cases, and is often drug resistant.
P. vivax	Normal with fine Schüffner dots: Ring form Enlarged with fine Schüffner dots: Trophozoite, schizont, and gametocyte forms	Large cytoplasm with pseudopods: Ring form Large ameboid cytoplasm with yellow-brown pigment: Trophozite form Large mass that fills all RBC with yellow-brown coalescent pigment: Schizont form Large mass that fills all RBC with scattered brown pigment: Gametocyte form	Tertian fever (every 48 hours), causes severe malaria in up to 22% of cases, and is often drug resistant. Relapse is common due to dormant liver phase.
P. ovale	Normal with fine Schüffner dots	Sturdy cytoplasm and large chromatin: Ring form Compact cytoplasm with dark-brown pigment: Trophozoite form Large nuclei clustered around mass of dark-brown pigment: Schizont form Round to oval form that fills all RBC with scattered brown pigment: Gametocyte form	Tertian fever (every 48 hours), rarely causes severe malaria or drug resistance. Relapse is common due to dormant liver phase.
P. malariae	Normal with Ziemann's stippling	Sturdy cytoplasm and large chromatin: Ring form Compact cytoplasm with occasional band forms and coarse dark-brown pigment: Trophozoite form Large nuclei clustered around mass of coarse, dark-brown pigment and occasional rosettes: Schizont form Round to oval form that fills all RBC with scattered brown pigment: Gametocyte form	Quartan fever (every 72 hrs), rarely causes severe malaria or drug resistance. Although dormant liver phase is uncommon, infection persistence is commonly seen.
P. knowlesi	Normal with Sinton and Mulligan stippling	Delicate cytoplasm with appliqué (accolé) forms: Ring form Compact cytoplasm and large chromatin with band forms and dark-brown pigment: Trophozoite form Segmented with large nuclei around mass of coarse brown pigment and occasional rosettes: Schizont form Round to oval form that fills all RBC with scattered brown pigment: Gametocyte form	Daily fevers, may cause severe malaria in up to 10% of cases. Drug resistance is rare.

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