What is malaria?
Malaria is a fever known as 'narcotics' or 'hak' in our country. Malaria occurs in most tropical areas, and 40 percent of the world's population, or 2 billion people, lives in the polluted areas. There are 150 million cases every year, and the African continent alone is estimated to kill more than one million children under the age of five every year. In Korea, there was positive Samil fever malaria until the mid-1970s, but it has since disappeared and has reappeared since 1993.
The pathogen of malaria is malaria protozoa, which is carried by mosquitoes. There are four types of protozoa, and among them, malignant malaria, which is a tropical fever malaria caused by a protozoan called tropical fever, has irregular fever and various clinical symptoms, making it easy to misdiagnose due to flu and unknown symptoms. Also, if malaria is not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, it can lead to a fatal ending of cerebral malaria. When you return home from a trip or living in a tropical area, you must inform your doctor of your travel history to remind you of tropical malaria. Meanwhile, malaria, which reappears in Korea, is caused by a protozoan called Samilyeol malaria protozoa, and shows a relatively mild clinical course.
a cause of malaria
In Korea, Samilyeol malaria caused by Samilyeol malaria protozoa is popular. The epidemic area is mainly formed around the northern part of Gyeonggi-do, near the border, and if you have served in the military up to a year ago or are bitten by mosquitoes while living in the area, you can get Samil fever malaria.
a symptom of malaria
Typical symptoms of malaria are chills and high fever within a few days after initial symptoms of headache and loss of appetite, raising the body temperature to 39-41℃, resulting in severe cold and shaking symptoms. In general, Samil fever malaria, which is prevalent in Korea, often shows a pattern of fever one day, no fever at all, and then fever again the next day. Tropical malaria often has a fever or a fever every day.
Malaosis and examination
Deepstick can be used as a screening method for tropical malaria. Tropical heat malaria may be severe, but malaria protozoa may not be seen in peripheral blood, so it is essential to conduct repeated tests several times if infection is suspected.
Here's how to test for malaria.
First, you can do a blood smear test.
The peripheral blood smear is gimmed and observed under a microscope to find the malaria protozoa. If malaria is suspected, thin layer smear and thick layer smear are performed. The posterior coating method is a very convenient method for determining whether malaria is positive or negative because a large amount of blood is coated and dried, all red blood cells are hemolyzed, and only protozoa and white blood cells are examined under a microscope. However, it is often difficult to distinguish species, and thin-layer coating is very useful for species discrimination because it allows accurate observation of protozoa and red blood cells by thinly coating red and white blood cells on the slide, but it is difficult to diagnose if the infection density is low.
Second, there is a way to dye acridine orange.
The method is to mix 5 μl of patient blood and 10 μl of acridine orange solution in a slide glass, cover the cover glass, and leave it for 2-3 minutes for examination with a fluorescence microscope.
The third is serological testing.
ELISA is a method that can be used to test large samples using protein antigens in malaria protozoa. Serum diagnosis such as the IFA method is also possible, but since antibodies appear a week after the onset, serum diagnosis is not useful for early diagnosis.
The fourth is genetic testing.
PCR identifies the MSP and CSP genes of malaria protozoa with specific primers.
malaria treatment
Depending on the type of protozoa and the area where you traveled, the resistance of malaria drugs and the drugs you need to take vary, so it is recommended to use them after prescription from a professional doctor. In particular, in the case of tropical malaria, incorrect use of preventive drugs that do not fit depending on the travel area may not be preventive. They can also die because they miss the timing of treatment. Symptoms alone can be diagnosed, but it is important to get an accurate diagnosis through examination.
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