What is malaria, where is it found and how is it spread? Symptoms, prevention and treatment

MALARIA is a problem for large regions of the globe, claiming over one million lives each year.

Here's everything you need to know about the deadly disease...

How is malaria spread?

Malaria is spread by Anopheles mosquitoes, when they bite people to feed on their blood.

When the mosquitoes bite, they transfer the malarial parasites into the person's bloodstream, causing them to become ill.

Only the female mosquito feeds on human blood, however.

In exceptionally rare circumstances the disease can also be spread by blood transfusions.

A recent study found that children who have malaria smell ‘sweeter’ to mosquitoes.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UK researchers attached electrodes to mosquitoes’ antennae.

They examined their reaction to 117 foot odour samples of children, and found the insects were most attracted to children who had already contracted malaria.

Where are you at risk of contracting malaria?

Malaria is a massive issue for a huge section of the world's population.

Though rare in Europe and North America, it is a huge problem for Africa, South and Central America and Southern Asia.

In these countries it is important to take extra care to avoid mosquitoes, or take anti-malarial medication to prevent infection.

What are the symptoms of malaria?

Malaria has a host of unpleasant symptoms which also can be brought on by a variety of other issues sometimes causing confusion for doctors.

Symptoms typically take between ten days to four weeks to emerge and can in some cases lie dormant for several months.

Common early symptoms of the life-threatening illness include:

• Shaking
• Chills
• Fever
• Sweating
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Anaemia
• Muscle pain
• Convulsions
• Blood in stools

After the early stage symptoms, the condition can become rapidly life-threatening especially if the person infected is pregnant, elderly or very young and is not treated immediately.

Within just hours, the red blood cells cannot carry enough oxygen to the major organs, leaving a person weak and faint.

It can also cause cerebral malaria, where the brain swells, which in turn leads to brain damage and seizures.

The kidneys and liver can also being to fail and a fluid can build up on the lungs meaning it is difficult to breathe.

And if any of these complications crop up and they are not treated immediately, they can be fatal.

This can all happening in a matter of just hours - depending upon the health of the person infected.

What is the treatment for malaria?

Malaria is treated with drugs known as anti-malarials and vary depending on the type and severity of the disease.

If quickly diagnosed and properly treated people with malaria can usually expect to make a full recovery.

But the severe form of the disease can progress at a terrifying speed and can kill a person within hours or days.

Though most people if they over come the disease beat it for good some can experience recurring symptoms at irregular intervals through their life.

In some areas of the world however those repeatedly infected with the disease have developed a level of immunity.

How malaria be prevented?

Experts have worked for years to try and minimise the spread of the disease.

There is no vaccine for malaria so currently the only way to eradicate it would be to wipe mosquitoes from the planet.

However this would be an exceptionally expensive process and so far the best defence against the disease is still sleeping under a mosquito net.

As most mosquitoes bite at night, sleeping under one of the nets keeps the insects at bay, limiting the chance of being targeted by them.

The nets are relatively inexpensive but in some countries are still hard to come by.

There are also ways you can ward off being bitten by taking simple steps such as staying indoors or in areas with air conditioning, where it is cool and dry and wearing loose, baggy clothing.

DEET insect repellent can also be used and applied to exposed skin as a way of warding off mosquitoes.

There aren't any medications that can completely eradicate the chances of getting the disease but anti-malarials can reduce the risk of infection by up to 90 per cent.

Your GP can provide you with the drugs if you are going to an infected country and assess whether you are suitable for them.

The anti-malarials have to be taken before you travel to your destination and in some cases for up to four weeks after you return.

Which celebrities have contracted malaria?

Several celebrities have spoken out and revealed that they have battled malaria.

In 2010, singer Cheryl ended up fighting for her life after contracting the disease on a trip to Tanzania.

She revealed how at the height of her scare, she was given just 24 hours to live after being rushed to hospital when she collapsed at a photoshoot.

Team GB ambassador Charlie Webster began battling the disease in a Rio de Janeiro hospital in August 2016.

Worryingly, she was put on a coma on life support in the Brazilian city, with top doctors from Britain being consulted about her treatment.

Since overcoming the disease, the Sky Sports presenter has led the global fight against malaria in a new ambassador role.

While former Eastenders actor Larry Lamb has told the shocking story of how he nearly became deaf after contracting malaria on a charity trip to Africa.

The Gavin and Stacey star caught the mosquito-transmitted disease in Dakar, Senegal after messing up his course of anti-malarial tablets.

What followed was a terrifying onslaught of nasty symptoms when Larry returned home, and the diagnosis that he’d caught the parasitic disease.