Treatment of Malaria

When i had malaria attack back in Africa, the biggest problem was to access a health center which was usually a very far away. Just as i stated in last week's blog, I that had to walk for almost 5 miles to the nearest dispensary to be tested for the symptoms i had like chills, fever, myalgia, athralgia etc.  Mostly the doctor would tell that it was malaria even before the lab at the clinic got the test results back. One question they would ask was "have you been using mosquito net at night ?" and if the answer was no then that was the best indicator that one had been infected. Well today my focus is not how we were diagnosed back in Africa but this blog is to explain the types of treatments a patient gets once diagnosed with malaria. Usually the secret is to be tested earlier than later because the treatment for malaria depends on the type of bacteria that has infected you and the amount of time it has been in the body.  Malaria can be a deadly disease mostly if caused by plasmodium falciparum and if treatment is not initiated immediately then there is a higher risk that the patient may die (cdc 2012).

According to the WHO (2015), the primary goal of the treatment is to make sure that the bacterium is eliminated from the body. To do this a patient has to take medications which are dependent on the type of the malaria bacterium that has infected you.  The following are some of the regimens used to treat different malaria bacteria.

·         Coartem is a combination of the two medicines artemether and lumefantrine. It is used to treat malaria caused by P. falciparum. It is usually given as a total of 6 doses over a period of 3 days. Some of the side effects experienced by taking coartem includes: Mild weakness or dizziness, mild headache; joint or muscle pain; or cough(Drugs.com 2015)

·         Chloroquine is the most effective medicine for treating a malaria infection caused by P. ovale or P. malariae parasites. This medication is mostly taken by mouth, usually with food to prevent stomach upset. Daily or weekly dosing, dosage amount, and length of treatment are based on the medical condition. To prevent relapses of infections caused by these two parasites, a patient is advised to continue taking chloroquine after you leave the area where these parasites are present. Chloroquine is also used to treat P. falciparum and P. vivax infections in areas where resistance to chloroquine has not been confirmed.(WHO 2015).

Some of the side effects of taking chloroquine are but not limited to: Blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, and diarrhea(Webmd 2015)

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REFERENCES

Malaria Treatment (United States). (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/diagnosis_treatment/treatment.html

Overview of malaria treatment. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.who.int/malaria/areas/treatment/overview/en/

Coartem (artemether/lumefantrine) Uses, Dosage, Side Effects - Drugs.com. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.drugs.com/coartem.html

Chloroquine oral : Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing - WebMD. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2015, from http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-8633/chloroquine-oral/details#side-effects