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Medical Author:

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP

Mary D. Nettleman, MD, MS, MACP is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University. She is a graduate of Vanderbilt Medical School, and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Indiana University.

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Medical Editor:

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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With malaria, the patient develops a high fever, which comes and goes. The pattern of febrile and afebrile periods may vary according to the species of malaria that is present. However, there does not have to be a pattern to the fever. Initially, malaria feels like the flu with high fever and body aches. Symptoms in children may be nonspecific, leading to delays in diagnosis. People also will complain of headache, nausea, shaking chills (rigors), sweating, and weakness. Anemia is common in patients with malaria, in part due to the effects of the Plasmodium parasite on the red cells. P. falciparum causes a particularly severe form of malaria. In addition to fever, patients may experience severe hemolytic anemia caused by destruction of the red cells, kidney failure, pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), cerebral malaria, coma, or death.

People who have lived for years in areas with malaria may develop a partial immunity to new infections, although this will wane if they leave the area.

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See the Entire Malaria Topic Guide »