nursing management of malaria 2024-2025

nursing management of malaria 2024-2025

Plasmodium protozoans, a group of parasites spread by mosquito bites, are the primary cause of malaria, a relatively common condition. The disease is common in tropical and subtropical areas, including much of Latin America and Asia. However, about 90% of cases that have been reported are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

There were 216 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2016, resulting in an estimated 731,000 deaths. The disease is still very common in these areas.

The Plasmodium genus, which is part of the phylum Apicomplexa, contains the malaria parasites. Infections with P. malariae, P. ovale, P. knowles, P. vivax, and P. falciparum typically result in human infection34. P. falciparum is believed to be the cause of the vast majority of infections, accounting for approximately 75% of cases.

Signs and Symptoms

• The onset of symptoms varies greatly; some patients may not experience any symptoms for up to 25 days after the infection, while others may begin to experience symptoms as soon as one week later. Although a few cases have been reported to be asymptomatic for years, these cases are extremely rare.
  Fever, headache, shivering, joint pain, vomiting, convulsions, and hemolytic anemia are among the initial manifestations of malaria, which resemble flu-like symptoms. Acute respiratory distress may present in severe cases.
  The disease can progress to the point where it causes liver and renal failure. Severe headache, low blood sugar, hemoglobin in the urine, spontaneous bleeding, coagulopathy, and shock are additional symptoms.
• Neurological signs and symptoms of cerebral malaria include coma, decorticate and decerebrate posturing, nystagmus, conjugate gaze palsy, opisthotonus, seizures, and abnormal posture.

Transmission

• The female Anopheles mosquito serves as a definitive host for the malaria parasite, transmitting it in the form of a motile sporozoite into a vertebrate host (such as a human), where it can spread through the blood to complete its life cycle and multiply.
  Although rare, blood transfusion-related malaria infections have been documented and reported. It is unlikely that exposure to other bodily fluids will result in transmission.

Pathophysiology

• The exoerythrocytic phase of malaria infection, which takes place in the liver, and the erythrocytic phase, which involves red blood cells (RBCs), are two distinct phases. The bite of a mosquito, which serves as a reservoir for sporozoites found in infected mosquito saliva, is the primary entry point for infection. These sporozoites are released into the bloodstream when an infected mosquito pierces a person’s skin, where they migrate to the liver, infect hepatocytes, and multiply asexually. Patients who have the infection will not experience any symptoms for anywhere from a week to a month. Although the liver serves as the parasite’s primary host, liver dysfunction is uncommon and typically affects patients who also have other liver conditions like viral hepatitis.
• The parasite will cause the red blood cell to swell and eventually lyse as it matures within it. This will allow the newly multiplied parasites to enter the bloodstream and infect additional red blood cells.
  In active infected patients, the malaria parasite typically causes paroxysm, a two-day cycle of sudden coldness, followed by shivering and profuse sweating (diaphoresis). This cycle lasts for three days in infections caused by P. vivax and P. ovale (quartan fever).
  The respiratory compensation of metabolic acidosis, noncardiogenic pulmonary oedema, pneumonia, and severe anemia thought to be the cause of malaria parasites’ ability to cause acute respiratory distress in up to 25% of adult patients and 40% of children13

Nursing Diagnosis & Care Plan

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