There are currently five distinct protozoan vertebrate Plasmodium species identified as causal
agents of malaria in humans: P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovalae, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi, with
the most common, P. falciparum, accounting for approximately seventy percent of all cases. The
female Anopheles gambiae is a vector for all plasmodia of malaria, as observed by Ronald Ross in
1897 (Nobel Media, 2014) , and acquires the Plasmodium by feeding on the blood of an already
infected human. Subsequently, the Plasmodium multiplies, and migrates from the midgut of the
insect to the oesophagus, ready to be regurgitated into the bloodstream when the mosquito obtains a
blood meal from a human (NIH, 2017) . Ultimately, once inoculated by the...show more content...
Alternatively, in the P. vivax and P. ovale species, it is possible that the disease will prove
asymptomatic, though not benign, for many months (Chen et al, 2016) , as the sporozoites are able
to remain 'dormant' in the liver as hypnozoites. However, it is more common that symptoms will
appear within one month of being bitten by a carrier mosquito (Herchline, 2017) .
The life cycle of the malaria plasmodia once inside the body is both complex and systematic (see
Figure 1). For example, in the case of P. falciparum, the parasite adheres to the vascular endothelium
of the vital organs of its host, such as the liver, as well as subcutaneous adipose tissues, in a process
of cytoadherence. In the hepatic stage, the Plasmodium enters hepatocytes as a sporozoite, and
multiplies, forming a schizont, which will rupture and invade surrounding erythrocytes. The
Plasmodium, in the form of a merozoite, then replicates by asexual intraerythrocytic reproduction,
and changes the antigenicity of an erythrocyte, causing it to adhere to neighbouring cells.
Sequestration of erythrocytes in this manner can cause blockages within the blood vessels; in the
brain, this can lead to cerebral malaria– a fatal complication of malaria. Additionally, the
congregation of erythrocytes facilitates the movement of the Plasmodium from one cell to the next,
encouraging the rapid replication of the parasite within cells.
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