Epidemiology

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Etiology

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Pathophysiology

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Clinical features

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Diagnostics

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Treatment

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Prevention

• Should be initiated before traveling to regions with a high risk of malaria, e.g., tropical Africa, Asia, and Central/South America
• Drug of choice is based on the region traveled and Plasmodium species
  • Areas with P. falciparum
    • If chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum (most malaria endemic regions): atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine
    • If chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum: chloroquine
  • Areas without P. falciparum (some areas of Central/South America, Mexico, China, South Korea): primaquine
• Agents that are safe during pregnancy: chloroquine, mefloquine

Tip

Prophylactic medication cannot prevent infection but instead suppresses the course of the disease and its symptoms by killing the parasite within the host before it can cause severe disease. There is no prophylactic medication that provides protection against all species of the Plasmodium genus.