Malaria is a life threatening infection of the blood caused by a specific type of parasite called a Plasmodium. It is a mosquito-borne disease that is transmitted by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito. After an infected anopheles mosquito bites a human, the parasites begin multiplying. This proliferation takes place in the human liver. After the parasites multiply, they begin to destroy the person’s red blood cells, leading to eventual death if treatment is not sought. Fortunately, there are various signs and symptoms of malaria that typically motivate people to seek help.
In most instances, malaria is treatable and controllable, particularly if an early diagnosis is made. Unfortunately, in certain parts of the world, limited resources are available to effectively prevent deaths from the disease. As of 2018, there is no malaria vaccination available in the United States, although there is one currently in use in Europe.
1. Abdomen Pain
Abdomen pain is one of the first symptoms of malaria in many cases. This is because in the early stages of the infection–usually the first five days–the spleen and liver begin to rapidly enlarge due to inflammation. This causes pressure on the abdominal cavity and often leads to constant pain or abdominal spasms that come and go. Abdomen pain is almost always linked to one particular strain of the disease that is caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. However, all strains of malaria typically cause some level of pain in the abdomen.
In many cases, patients misunderstand this symptom and think they have simply eaten something that caused stomach cramps, but abdominal pain from malaria is typically not directly related to the stomach. Rather, the pain one feels in the abdominal cavity is primarily from inflammation of the the spleen and liver.
2. Muscle Pain
Muscle pain is a very common symptom of malaria. Often described as a flu-like body ache, muscle pains may manifest as spasms or a person may simply feel a continuous ache that pain relievers such as aspirin or acetaminophen do little or nothing to help. Some individuals describe the muscle pain as similar to the way it feels when one has a bruise on his or her skin. Shoulders, arms, legs and feet may also be sensitive to touch and massage often exacerbates, rather than alleviates this symptom in most individuals.
3. Chills
Chills almost always accompany malaria. In some cases, they are the very first symptom to manifest in a patient, and they are particularly noticeable if one lives in a warm climate, where a person would not normally feel chilly. In certain cases, even when an individual adds layers of clothing or lies down under a thick comforter, he or she continues to feel cold and the chills become noticeably worse with each passing hour. In addition, this symptom almost always increases simultaneously with the person’s rising temperature as the latter escalates in an attempt to fight the invading parasitic infection.
4. Fatigue
Because malaria is a serious illness that requires the body’s immune system to vigorously combat it, crushing fatigue is almost always a symptom. A person may find that the fatigue comes on suddenly, or one may erroneously think that he or she is merely having an off day or developing a cold or the flu. However, as the hours and days proceed, the fatigue typically becomes self-limiting. The latter is a term that simply means a person has no choice but to lie down and rest, as the fatigue eventually becomes overwhelming.
5. Fever
As with virtually all infectious diseases, an elevated temperature is a common symptom of malaria. However, depending on the strain of the disease one has contracted, fevers associated with this type of infection may be severe. It is not uncommon for a person to exhibit an extraordinarily high temperature of 105 or 106 degrees if he or she has developed the disease. In children, these temperatures may be even higher. If the fever is not brought down quickly and the condition treated, long-term complications from the high body temperature may occur. The longer this symptom is left unchecked, the higher the risk the patient has have of developing future complications.
6. Night Sweats
Similar to fevers, night sweats are not uncommon in those suffering from malaria. In some cases, a person may have the symptom for several consecutive nights before a daytime rise in temperature occurs. Night sweats are technically defined as episodes of extreme nighttime sweating that leave a person drenched in moisture. Night sweats frequently result in the need to change bedclothes or sheets. Medical professionals do not completely understand the exact physiology behind night sweats or why they are present with certain diseases, but they are virtually impossible to overlook.
7. Shivering
Sometimes referred to as “rigors,” the shivering associated with malaria is different from the aforementioned symptom of chills, although the two symptoms may at first appear similar. Shivering is the infected person’s physiological attempt to raise his or her temperature to a new baseline, although the patient is unaware that this is happening. Making the patient warmer does not change the symptom, and rigors typically continue until prescribed medication begins to take effect. If left untreated, shivering can continue indefinitely, whereas chills may come and go intermittently.
8. Vomiting
Vomiting is very common symptom of malaria, and almost always occurs at the highest point of one’s fever. Certain doctors around the world take this symptom as a sign that the person’s temperature has reached its peak. In some cases, due to the infection’s impact on the liver, a patient’s vomit may feature a dark yellow to dark brown color. This may indicate the presence of bilirubin, a substance produced by the body in normal healthy individuals, but which should never be present in vomit, urine or feces. Most patients with malaria will also experience some type of dehydration due to continuous vomiting during periods of elevated temperature.
