Malaria — page 2 of 2

Malaria terms

101. Presumptive treatment Treatment of clinically suspected cases without, or prior to, results from confirmatory laboratory tests.
102. Primaquine A drug used against malaria for the prevention of P. vivax or for the eradication of the hypnozoites of P. vivax and P. ovale.
103. Proguanil A drug used against malaria. It is found in the combination atovaquone-proguanil which can be used for both prevention and treatment.
104. Prophylaxis An attempt to prevent disease.
105. Protozoan Single-celled organism that can perform all necessary functions of metabolism and reproduction.
106. Pyrethroid A class of insecticides derived from the natural pyrethrins.
107. Quinine A drug used against malaria, obtained from the bark of the cinchona tree. Quinine is used for treatment but not prevention of malaria.
108. Radical cure (also: radical treatment) Complete elimination of malaria parasites from the body; the term applies specifically to elimination of dormant liver stage…
109. Radical treatment See radical cure.
110. Recrudescence A repeated attack of malaria due to the survival of malaria parasites in red blood cells.
111. Relapse The return of signs and symptoms of cancer after a period of improvement.
112. Residual insecticide spraying See indoor residual spraying.
113. Resistance The ability of an organism to develop ways to be impervious to specific threats to their existence.
114. Rigor Severe shaking chill.
115. Schizogony Asexual reproductive stage of malaria parasites. In red blood cells, schizogony entails development of a single trophozoite into numerous merozoites.
116. Schizont A developmental form of the malaria parasite that contains many merozoites. Schizonts are seen in the liver-stage and blood-stage parasites.
117. Sequelae Morbid conditions following as a consequence of a disease.
118. Serology The branch of science dealing with the measurement and characterization of antibodies and other immunological substances in body fluids, particularly…
119. Species Organisms in the same genus that have similar characteristics.
120. Splenectomy (spleh-NEK-toh-mee) An operation to remove the spleen.
121. Splenomegaly Enlarged spleen.
122. Sporozoite A stage in the life cycle of the malaria parasite. Sporozoites are produced in the mosquito and migrate to the mosquito's salivary glands.
123. Sporozoite rate The proportion of female anopheline mosquitoes of a particular species that have sporozoites in their salivary glands (as seen by dissection), or that are…
124. Strain A genetic variant within a species.
125. Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine A drug used against malaria. Its value has been compromised by the emergence of drug-resistant malaria parasites
126. Suppressive treatment Treatment intended to prevent clinical symptoms and parasitemia through destruction of parasites in red blood cells.
127. Tachycardia Rapid beating of the heart, usually defined as greater than 100 beats per minute.
128. Tachypnea Rapid breathing.
129. Tetracycline An antibiotic drug used to treat infection.
130. Thrombocytopenia (THROM-boh-sy-toh-PEE-nee-uh) A decrease in the number of platelets in the blood that may result in easy bruising and excessive bleeding from wounds or…
131. Tinnitus (tih-NY-tus) A disorder in which a person hears noises such as buzzing, ringing, clicking, or the sound of a pulse, when no outside sound is causing them.
132. Trophozoite A developmental form during the blood stage of malaria parasites. After merozoites have invaded the red blood cell, they develop into trophozoites…
133. vaccine A substance or group of substances meant to cause the immune system to respond to a tumor or to microorganisms, such as bacteria or viruses.
134. vector any living creature that transmits an infectious agent to humans.
135. Vector competence The ability of a vector (e.g., Anopheles mosquitoes) to transmit a disease (e.g., malaria).
136. Virus (VY-rus) In medicine, a very simple microorganism that infects cells and may cause disease.
137. Vivax See Plasmodium
138. Zoonosis A disease that naturally occurs in animals that can also occur in humans.
139. Zoophilic Zoophilic mosquitoes are mosquitoes that prefer to take blood meals on animals.