EDITOR’S PICK:
Most people are not aware of how serious and sometimes deadly malaria can be. The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that in 2020, about 241 million cases of malaria occurred and about 627,000 persons mostly comprising of children in Africa died of malaria.
Most times, we get infected with malaria after being bitten by an infected mosquito. However, new research has revealed that there are other days one can get malaria apart from mosquito bites and many people are ignorant of this.
How can someone get malaria?
People often get malaria after being bitten by an infected mosquito, mostly the female anopheles mosquito. Only female anopheles mosquitoes transmit malaria but they must have infected themselves after sucking the blood of an infected person.
1. Blood transfusions
A malaria parasite is found in the red blood cells of an infected person, so transfusing that blood to another person can transmit the parasite into the new host.
2. Organ transplant
Many people require organ transplants after organ failure. Even though this is rare, malaria parasites can be passed to an uninfected person during the procedure.
3. Sharing needles and syringe
Since mosquitoes are passed through blood, using a needle or syringe that has been infected with malaria parasite to inject someone can lead to the transmission of the parasite.
FURTHER READING
4. Mother to child
An infected mother can pass malaria to her unborn children before or during delivery. This type of transmission is called congenital malaria.
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