Malaria is a life-threatening disease. Usually, it’s transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Infected mosquitoes carry the Plasmodium parasite is released into your bloodstream.
Once the parasite are inside your body, they travel to the liver, where they mature. After a couple of days, the mature parasites enter the bloodstream and start to infect red blood cells. Within the next 48 to 72 hours, the parasites inside the red blood cells multiply, causing the infected cells to burst open.
The parasites continue to infect red blood cells, resulting in symptoms that happen in cycles that can last for, at most, three days at a time. Usually, malaria is found in tropical and subtropical climates where the parasites can live.
