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[08/25/2004]
 Symptoms |
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Incubation period
In the days (up to 2 weeks) after the infesting anopheline bite,
no disorder is observed. When the parasites named Plasmodium
start to reach the blood and multiply in it, some fairly
insignificant symptoms appear, with above all a usually moderate
fever (38°C-38.5°C) without any specific periodicity, frequently
accompanied by gastrointestinal disorders such as stomach
upset.
The disease gradually evolves into the acme. | Acme
This is characterized by the existence of specific febrile
paroxysms, malarial fevers, which are characterized
by:
- a specific periodicity (every 2 days), but this periodicity can
be masked, in particular by multiple infestations.
- the succession of 3 characteristic phases, during each
fever: shivering (for several hours, the patient suffers from
hypothermia and finds it difficult to warm up), heat (for 3 or 4
hours, the patient's temperature rises to 40°C or even 40.5°C,
leading in particular to severe headaches), and finally
perspiration (which precedes the end of the malarial fever and is
accompanied by a feeling of well-being, and
deliverance).
Apart from malarial fevers, malaria at acme stage, causes an
occasionally very considerable increase in the volume of the
spleen, anemia, and less frequently, other symptoms.
The symptoms are generally less clear in a fever due to Plasmodium
falciparum.
| Progression
It may in certain cases be spontaneously favorable, with a
gradual spacing out and attenuation of the fevers.
More frequently, and most particularly among expatriates, tourists
and young children living in an area of endemia, the progression
may be towards the occurrence of various complications, the most
serious of which is cerebral malaria, also known as pernicious
malaria. In the absence of diagnosis and swift treatment, requiring
hospitalization in a specialized department, this complication is
often fatal.
In the final analysis, malaria is not a rather exotic non-malignant
fever,
but in fact a very severe disease, which is frequently
fatal
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