• A peripheral blood smear is taken from a

patient admitted with fever, chills& rigors

• Describe what you have seen under microscope
and identify the parasite and name the species.
• Crescent shape gametocytes of P. falciparum

• What is the incubation period of these parasites?

• Interval between the infective mosquito bite and
the first appearance of clinical symptoms; varies
with the species of the parasite.
– P. vivax—14 (8–31) days
– P. falciparum—12 (8–14) days
– P. ovale—14 (8–31) days
– P. malariae—28 (18–40) days
• Which mosquito transmits the parasite to man?
• Female Anopheles mosquito

• What are the recent developments in this field?

• Diagnosis
– Fluoroscence microscopy (acridine orange)
– Immunochromatographic tests for rapid antigen
detection
– Molecular methods- DNA probes and PCR
• Prophylaxis
– Though, effective vaccine is not yet available for
malaria, several vaccines are under development