This is caused by type of protozoa belonging to the plasmodium parasite. It infects the red corpuscles and gives rise to fiver. It is transmitted by Anopheles mosquito to humans. Once an infected mosquito bites a human the parasites multiply in the liver before infecting and destroying red blood cells.
The patient suffer from a transient headache, backache, generalised ache and tenderness in the liver area. There may be slight rise in temperature also. The onset of the fever is either sudden or slow. Prior to the fever, the patient may feel tiredness, stiffness of neck-muscles, pain in the muscles, bones and anorexia. Fever when it appears is generally associated with headache, backache, aching pains in the bones, malaise and fatigue. Usually in the beginning of the fever there is shivering. But in certain types of malaria this shivering is absent. Nausea, anorexia and vomiting are very common. At the letter stage of the diseases, the spleen also gets enlarged.
There are three stage of the fever. In the first stage patient feels restless, develops headache, backache and experiences chilliness, then the shivering begins. The face is pinched and the skin turns cold and blue. Nausea and vomiting during the onset of fever is not uncommon. In about half to two hours, the temperature rises rapidly up to 103f – 106f. It is a cold stage. In the second stage the skin becomes burning hot and all clothes and blankets are discarded. The face remains flushed and the pulse is rapid. This stage may persist for 8-10 hours. This stage called hot stage. Third stage is sweating stage in this stage the skin becomes moist, followed by profuse sweating. The headache and pain disappear and the pulse becomes slow. The temperature then falls at the end of the attack, and the patient feels well.
Sudarshan churan, mahasudarshana are very useful in malaria.
