Most common questions used to investigate
Do you have a high fever with chills?
Do you have a specific pattern or timeline for fever and other symptoms?
Have you traveled to a region that has a high incidence of malaria?
Do you know what causes malaria?
Do you know the risk factors?
Are you aware of the possible complications from it?
Common conclusions
High fever is one of the signs of malaria, but then, many viral infections are accompanied by fever too. It is a generic symptom and one that is used by your body as a defense to eliminate the viruses present inside it. While this is not conclusive proof of malaria, if you also have chills, headache, muscle pain, fatigue, and nausea, you may want to check with your doctor if you have malaria.
When you have malaria, there is a specific pattern for the occurrence of fever and other symptoms. Usually, it starts with shivering followed by high fever, sweating, and a return to normal temperature. Also, it can occur only at some specific times in a day such as the evening. If you see that there is a discernible pattern, you could have malaria, so check with your doctor on how to proceed.
Some countries in the world are malaria hotspots because the weather conditions are favorable for the breeding of malaria. Also, the prevailing sanitation and hygiene conditions can fuel their growth. The International Association of Medical Association for Travellers (IAMAT) recommends travelers to watch out when they travel to some countries in Asia, Africa, and South America such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brazil, and Sub-Saharan Africa. So, if you have traveled to any of these countries in the past and if you have a fever, you must check for malaria.
Malaria is caused by a microscopic virus that is transmitted through the bite of a female mosquito. Typically, when a mosquito bites a person who has malaria, takes the virus and bites a person who doesn't have malaria, it gets transmitted. This is how malaria is transmitted. Besides this mode, it can also be transmitted from mother to an unborn child, blood transfusions, and by sharing injected needles.
If you traveled to any of the countries where malaria is prevalent, you could have malaria. Besides, you should also check for malaria if you fall in any of the high-risk categories which include young children, infants, seniors, and pregnant women. These categories of people should be extra careful and must check for malaria if you have a high fever.
Some of the serious complications that can result from malaria are cerebral malaria that can cause seizures and coma, breathing problems, multiple organ failures, anemia, and low blood sugar that can even result in coma or death. While these are rarer, it is important to know that there's a possibility for these conditions.
Great! Take help from a medical professional if you have any of these symptoms or if you fall in the high-risk category.
References
Related Problems
