Malaria 145
Signs
A malaria attack has 3 stages:
1. The first signs are chills and often headache. The person shivers for
15 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Chills are followed by high fever. The person is weak and at times not in
his right mind (delirious). The fever may last hours or days.
3. Finally the person begins to sweat and the fever goes down. After the
fever drops, the person feels weak.
Treatment
If possible, get a blood test. Start treatment as soon as the first signs show.
Because malaria is passed from person to person by mosquitoes, treating a sick
person also protects others from getting infected. After you have been treated,
mosquitoes that bite you will not pass malaria on to others.
Find out what medicines for malaria your local health authorities recommend.
In many regions, the malaria parasite has developed drug resistance. This
means that medicines that once worked to prevent or treat malaria are no
longer effective. Medicines that cure malaria in one region may not cure the
malaria found in a different place.
There are new medicines or combinations of medicines now being given to
treat malaria in different regions. One of these, artemisinin (used for many
years in China), is often taken with another antimalaria medicine or with an
antibiotic. In some areas, chloroquine (the most common medicine for many
years) still works. The only way to know what medicine will work in your area
is to check with your local health authorities.
important: Take all of the medicine for all
of the days recommended, even if you feel better.
If you stop taking the medicine the malaria may
come back and the medicines may no longer work.
The woman
who took all of
her medicine
got better.
The woman who did not finish all her medicine is still sick in bed.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012