DIVERSITY OF PLASMODIUM SPECIES CIRCULATING IN PERSONS ATTENDING BAMAIYI HOSPITAL AND CLINIC AND PEACE HOSPITAL JIMETA YOLA

ABSTRACT About 3.3 billion people – half the world's population – are at risk of malaria due to the main causative parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.1 Over 200 million cases of malaria occur each year, 90% of which occur in Africa, and 655 000 people died from the disease in 2010, making it one of the world's most important health problems. Increasing resistance of the parasite to currently available drugs has created an urgent need to discover new treatments. However, this requires an improved understanding of the pathogenesis of malaria.Malarial infection begins when a person is bitten by an infected female anopheles mosquito and Plasmodium spp (species) parasites in the form of sporozoites are injected into the bloodstream. The sporozoites travel to the liver, multiplying asexually over the next 7–10 days. During this time there are no symptoms. The parasites, now in the form of merozoites, emerge from the liver cells in vesicles and travel through the heart to the capillaries of the lungs. The vesicles eventually disintegrate, releasing the merozoites to enter the bloodstream where they invade and multiply in erythrocytes. When the cells burst, the parasites invade more erythrocytes. Clinical symptoms, including fever, occur in synchrony with the rupture of infected erythrocytes and the release of erythrocyte and parasite debris, including malarial pigment (hemozoin) and glycophosphatidylinositol, the putative ‘malaria toxin. In some infected blood cells, instead of replicating asexually, the merozoites develop into sexual forms (gametocytes), which circulate in the bloodstream and are ingested during mosquito bites. The ingested gametocytes develop in the mosquito into mature sex cells (gametes) which develop into ookinetes that actively burrow through the mid-gut wall of the mosquito and form oocysts, in which develop thousands of active sporozoites. The oocyst eventually bursts, releasing sporozoites that travel to the salivary glands of the mosquito. The cycle of human infection begins again when the mosquito bites another person.3 The associated symptoms of malaria include severe anemia, fever, thrombocytopenia, chills, headache, vomiting, muscle ache, anorexia, rigor, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, cough, seizures, respiratory distress, hypoglycemia, metabolic acidosis, hyperlactemia etc.