Malaria fact sheets
Fact sheet 1 - advice for travellers
If you travel from the UK to tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world you should follow the
ABCDE approach to protect yourself against malaria.

Awareness of the risk – does malaria occur in the country you are visiting?

Bite prevention – it is most important to take precautions to avoid being bitten by a
mosquito.

Chemoprophylaxsis – a long word meaning to take the correct antimalarial tablets.

Diagnosis – if you fall ill with symptoms such as headache, fever, vomiting and/or chills seek
medical attention without delay.

Emergency standby medication –if you are visiting remote locations carry suitable
medication.
Fig 1: Taking a year out.
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Malaria fact sheets
Factsheet 2 - resistance to antimalarial drugs
Antimalarial drugs are given to people to prevent them catching malaria.
Over many years the parasites which cause the disease have developed resistance to these
drugs. This has happened because, due to variation, some individual parasites are naturally
immune to the drugs. These parasites are not killed when an infected person takes antimalarial
tablets. The parasites survive and go on to reproduce. Their genes for immunity will be passed
to some of their offspring. These offspring will also be able to resist the effects of drugs, they
will survive and grow and reproduce. The proportion of resistant parasites in the parasite
population will increase over time.
Some species of Plasmodium are becoming increasingly difficult to treat with antimalarial drugs
and threaten to reverse the progress made in recent years.
Fig 1: Antimalarial tablets
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Fact sheet 3 - the global effect of malaria

The species of mosquito which transfer the malarial parasite are the most deadly animals in
the world.

Almost half the world's population, 3.2 billion people, are at risk of malaria.

In 2015 there were 214 million cases of the disease and 438 000 deaths.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of global cases (88 %) and 90 % of all deaths.

70 % of deaths from malaria occur in children under five.

However, between 2000 and 2015, the death rate of these children fell by 65 % meaning 5.9
million children's lives were saved.

Also between 2000 and 2015, mortality rates from malaria around the world fell by 60 %.

In recent years some countries have eliminated malaria e.g. Morocco in 2010 and the
Maldives in 2015.
Fig 1: Testing for malaria
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Factsheet 4 - insecticide resistance
Reducing malaria relies on controlling the numbers of mosquitoes. People do this by draping
mosquito nets impregnated with insecticides over their beds and sleeping areas. The inside of
houses are sprayed with an insecticide which kills the insects.
Resistance to these insecticides has now been found in all of the species of mosquito which are
responsible for carrying the parasite and passing it to humans.
There are 4 different types of insecticide available and mosquitoes are becoming resistant to
each type. Especially worrying is resistance to the insecticide used on mosquito nets.
Fig 1: Spraying communities with insecticides
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Factsheet 5 - malaria the disease
Mosquitoes tend to bite at dawn and dusk. Symptoms of the disease do not usually appear until
one or two weeks after receiving an infected bite.
The first symptoms are often a mild fever, headache and chills and people do not always realise
they have the disease. However, malaria needs to be treated as soon as possible after infection
before more serious symptoms such as convulsions, vomiting and coma develop. Early treatment
also reduces the chance of the parasite being picked up from an infected person by another
biting mosquito.
Once injected into the blood stream by an infected mosquito the parasite travels to the person's
liver where it develops. Later it returns to the bloodstream and begins to invade red blood
cells. Here, the parasites multiply until the cell bursts open releasing a swarm of parasites.
Symptoms are at their most severe when the red blood cells burst and release parasites and cell
debris into the blood.
Fig 1: Mother and child under a mosquito net.
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Factsheet 6 - malaria vaccination?
At the moment there is no vaccine against malaria.
Most vaccines deal with micro-organisms such as bacteria and viruses. These are relatively
small, simple organisms when compared to the single-celled protozoan Plasmodium which causes
malaria.
Most vaccines are created by killing or weakening the bacteria and injecting this weakened form
in a vaccine. This has been done experimentally for malaria and scientists have created a
prototype vaccine which has been used in a large clinical trial in seven African countries.
Other scientists are searching for a weakness in how the parasite interacts with human cells and
tissues. They are trying to develop antibodies which prevent the parasite from entering red
blood cells.
Fig 1: TEM showing Plasmodium parasites inside a red blood cell. X13 000
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Factsheet 7 – mosquitoes and ecosystems
Mosquito larvae live in water. They feed by filtering small particles out of the water and the
larvae have an important role to play in keeping water clear.
In turn, the larvae are eaten by fish and other aquatic animals. They are a significant link in
many food chains.
Adult mosquitoes, particularly males, feed on flower nectar and are pollinators of plants.
The adults themselves form part of the diet of birds, bats, spiders and other invertebrates.
They represent a large biomass of food for organisms on the lower rungs of the food chain.
Fig 1: Plants and animals from an aquatic ecosystem.
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Factsheet 8 - evolution of immunity to malaria
Plasmodium, the parasite which causes malaria, evolved 130 million years ago, during the time
of the dinosaurs and long before mammals and of course, humans appeared on Earth. Perhaps,
Diplodocus in its swampy world, suffered from malaria!
The symptoms of malaria were first described in a Chinese medical book, written in 2700 BC,
around the time the Egyptian pyramids were being built.
In 400 BC the disease was well known in Greece. It caused many rural villages to be abandoned.
Natural immunity to malaria has developed in areas of the world where malaria has caused a
large number of deaths over many years. People who are naturally immune have a genetic
resistance to the disease. This has been the result of natural selection.
The Plasmodium parasite affects the cell membrane of red blood cells, making them more
sticky. The cells clump together, blocking capillaries. This is particularly dangerous in the brain.
Areas of the brain become starved of oxygen. This process accounts for 80 % of all malaria
deaths.
People with immunity to malaria have mutations to the genes responsible for the proteins found
in red blood cells. They are able to survive infections and live to reproduce and pass on their
beneficial genes.
However, mutations often have detrimental as well as beneficial effects. People who have
inherited the changes to their red blood cells may suffer from sickle cell anaemia. This
condition can cause severe pain, breathing difficulties and blockages in blood vessels.
Fig 1: Normal red blood cells
Fig 2: 'Sickle' red blood cells
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Fact sheet 9 - what are mosquitoes?
Mosquitoes are small, slender, long-legged flies.
There are thousands of species of mosquito.
Male and female mosquitoes feed on nectar and plant juices.
Females have needle-like mouthparts which pierce the skin of mammals in order to take a meal
of blood. Blood is essential for the female to produce eggs. Eggs are laid in water.
The life cycle of mosquitoes has four stages:




egg
larva (like a caterpillar which lives in water)
pupa (when the larva changes into a fly)
adult (this is the fly we see sometimes)
The females of only a few species of mosquito take blood from humans.
Fig 1: Eggs and female mosquito
Fig 2: Mosquito larvae
Fig 3: Mosquito pupae
Fig 4: Adult mosquito
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Fact sheet 10 - what have mosquitoes got to do with malaria?
Female mosquitoes act as vectors for many viruses and parasites which cause diseases in their
hosts.
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium, a micro-organism known as a protozoan (single-celled
organism). Plasmodium is a parasite of humans and mosquitoes.
The parasite is injected into the bloodstream when the female mosquito takes a blood meal.
This diagram shows the complicated life cycle of the parasite which causes malaria.
Not to worry, you don't need to learn it but take a moment to study the diagram.

What parts of the human body are involved in the life cycle?

Why do you think the mosquito is shown twice on the person's skin?
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Teaching notes
This resource consists of 10 fact sheets which cover many of the issues and questions which arise
when studying malaria.
The information can be used in a 'home/expert activity' where students are assigned home
groups. They leave their group to become an expert in one aspect of the disease. They can
make notes, summarise the information in a given number of words or answer questions. On
returning to their home group they explain what they have discovered, contribute answers to a
sheet of home group questions, or contribute to a presentation.
The fact sheets can also be used for 'making connections'. Working in pairs, students choose a
sheet and after reading it, make as many links to other areas of biology and other sciences, as
they can. This can be a quick activity with time limits set and students going through as many of
the 10 sheets as they can in the time, recording their connections.
The following clip from BBC Bitesize shows plasmodium infecting blood cells under the
microscope.
bbc.co.uk/education/clips/z2tq2hv
AQA Trilogy
4.3.1.5 Protist Diseases
This resource links to other areas of the syllabus including, natural selection, ecosystems and
food chains, insecticide resistance, vaccination, evolution, genetic mutation.
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Photo credits
traveling girl sitting in front of wall with map. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: David Edwards / National Geographic Society /
Universal Images Group / Copyright © National Geographic Society / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available
through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Antimalarial tablets. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: JOSH SHER / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images Group /
Copyright © Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest.
For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Testing for malaria. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: DR MORLEY READ / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images
Group / Copyright © Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image
Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Spraying insecticide to kill malarial mosquitoes. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: P. OLLIARO / TDR / WHO / SCIENCE
PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images Group / Copyright © Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images
are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Mosquito net. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: ANDY CRUMP / TDR / WHO / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images
Group / Copyright © Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image
Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Malaria parasites, TEM. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: MOREDUN SCIENTIFIC LTD / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY /
Universal Images Group / Copyright © Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through
Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Illustration of Heron. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: Mick Loates / Dorling Kindersley / Universal Images Group / Copyright ©
DK Images / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please
visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Red blood cells. From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: POWER AND SYRED / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images
Group / Copyright © Science Photo Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image
Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Sickle red blood cells From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: Omikron / Photo Researchers / Universal Images Group / Copyright ©
Photo Researchers / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial,
please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
MOSQUITO From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: PREMAPHOTOS / Nature Picture Library / Universal Images Group / Copyright
© Nature Picture Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free
trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
MOSQUITO From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: Kim Taylor / Nature Picture Library / Universal Images Group / Copyright ©
Nature Picture Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free
trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Mosquito pupae From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: SINCLAIR STAMMERS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images
Group / Copyright © Science Photo Library/ For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image
Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Mosquito From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: Frank Greenaway/ Dorling Kindersley / Universal Images Group / Copyright © DK
Images / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please
visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
Malaria\'s life cycle From The National and Domestic History of England / Credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Rights Managed / Copyright ©
Encyclopaedia Britannica / For Education Use Only. This and millions of other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free
trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial
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