Yes, malaria can be spread from person to person, though only in rare cases.
After the bite, it takes as little as thirty minutes for the parasite to reach the liver. There, some parasites can lay dormant for years. Others get straight into the bloodstream, attaching themselves to - and then entering - red blood cells, where they reproduce.
Infected red blood cells burst - infecting neighboring red blood cells and beginning the reproduction process all over again.
This repeating cycle depletes oxygen from the body and causes a fever.
The key point is that in most cases, the infected human host passes on the disease by being bitten by another mosquito, becoming the source of infection, and priming the mosquito to bite someone or something else.
Normally, humans do not directly intermingle bloodstreams, and so the likelihood of malaria spreading from human to human is relatively remote.
Blood transfusions can directly transfer malaria from donor to recipient - but there are stringent screening processes in place in hospitals to ensure that blood is free of parasites and infections.
Likewise, organ transplants can directly transfer malaria from donor to recipient and (given the parasites' tendency to hide in the liver), this is a viable method of spreading malaria from one person to another.
Sharing needles used for drug injections. In this process, the needle takes the place of the mosquito bite, puncturing the skin, and interacting with the bloodstream, of several people - potentially picking up and transferring the parasites to any number of drug-users who share the same needle. This is probably the most likely method of transferring the disease from person to person.
- The normal way in which malaria spreads:
After the bite, it takes as little as thirty minutes for the parasite to reach the liver. There, some parasites can lay dormant for years. Others get straight into the bloodstream, attaching themselves to - and then entering - red blood cells, where they reproduce.
Infected red blood cells burst - infecting neighboring red blood cells and beginning the reproduction process all over again.
This repeating cycle depletes oxygen from the body and causes a fever.
The key point is that in most cases, the infected human host passes on the disease by being bitten by another mosquito, becoming the source of infection, and priming the mosquito to bite someone or something else.
Normally, humans do not directly intermingle bloodstreams, and so the likelihood of malaria spreading from human to human is relatively remote.
- Direct Methods of Transmission:
Blood transfusions can directly transfer malaria from donor to recipient - but there are stringent screening processes in place in hospitals to ensure that blood is free of parasites and infections.
Likewise, organ transplants can directly transfer malaria from donor to recipient and (given the parasites' tendency to hide in the liver), this is a viable method of spreading malaria from one person to another.
Sharing needles used for drug injections. In this process, the needle takes the place of the mosquito bite, puncturing the skin, and interacting with the bloodstream, of several people - potentially picking up and transferring the parasites to any number of drug-users who share the same needle. This is probably the most likely method of transferring the disease from person to person.
