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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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In this Article

• What is malaria?
• What are malaria symptoms and signs?
• How is malaria transmitted?
• Where is malaria a particular problem?
• What is the incubation period for malaria?
• How is malaria diagnosed?
• What is the treatment for malaria?
• Is malaria a particular problem during pregnancy?
• Is malaria a particular problem for children?
• How do people avoid getting malaria?
• What is the prognosis (outcome) for people with malaria?
• Where can people get more information about malaria?
• Malaria At A Glance
• Patient Comments: Malaria - Symptoms and Signs
• Malaria Index

The period between the mosquito bite and the onset of the malarial illness is usually one to three weeks (seven to 21 days). This initial time period is highly variable as reports suggest that the range of incubation periods may range from four days to one year. The usual incubation period may be increased when a person has taken an inadequate course of malaria prevention medications. Certain types of malaria (P. vivax and P. ovale) parasites can also take much longer, as long as eight to 10 months, to cause symptoms. These parasites remain dormant (inactive or hibernating) in the liver cells during this time. Unfortunately, some of these dormant parasites can remain even after a patient recovers from malaria, so the patient can get sick again. This situation is termed relapsing malaria.

Clinical symptoms associated with travel to countries that have identified malarial risk (listed above) suggest malaria as a diagnosis. Malaria tests are not routinely ordered by most physicians so recognition of travel history is essential. Unfortunately, many diseases can mimic symptoms of malaria (for example, yellow fever, dengue fever, typhoid fever, cholera, filariasis, and even measles and tuberculosis). Consequently, physicians need to order the correct special tests to diagnose malaria, especially in industrialized countries where malaria is seldom seen. Without the travel history, it is likely that other tests will be ordered initially. In addition, the long incubation periods may tend to allow people to forget the initial exposure to infected mosquitoes.

The classic and most used diagnostic test for malaria is the blood smear on a microscope slide that is stained (Giemsa stain) to show the parasites inside red blood cells (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: CDC slide of a Giemsa stained smear of red blood cells showing Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium falciparum parasites. SOURCE: CDC/Steven Glenn, Laboratory & Consultation Division

Although this test is easily done, correct results are dependent on the technical skill of the lab technician who prepares and examines the slides with a microscope. Other tests based on immunologic principles exist; including RDTs (rapid diagnostic tests) approved for use in the U.S. in 2007 and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. These are not yet widely available and are more expensive than the traditional Giemsa blood smear. Some investigators suggest such immunologic based tests be confirmed with a Giemsa blood smear.