Plasmodium Ovale – A New Malaria Type Identified

In News

Plasmodium Ovale, a type of malaria has been identified in a jawan in Kerala.

In-Detail

• Plasmodium Ovale, a type of malaria has been identified in jawan in Kerala.
• The soldier contracted during his posting in Sudan and returned a year back.
• Plasmodium Ovale is endemic.

Types of Malaria

• The main cause of malaria is the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito when it is infected with the malaria parasite.
• There are different types of malaria parasites which include Plasmodium falciparum, plasmodium vivax, plasmodium ovale, plasmodium malariae, and plasmodium knowlesi.
• The most common type of malaria is caused by plasmodium vivax.
• In 2019, in India, there are 1.57 malaria cases.
• The high burden cases were recorded in the states Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, and Madhya Pradesh.
• Out of the total malaria cases, 1.1 lakh cases (70%) were cases of falciparum malaria.
• In 2018, the National Vector-borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) recorded 5 lakh people suffered from malaria where 63% were from plasmodium falciparum.
• According to the World Malaria Report 2020, India dropped from about 20 million in 2000 to about 5.6 million in 2019.

Plasmodium Ovale

• Plasmodium Ovale rarely causes severe illness.
• It is similar to Plasmodium vivax and is not a killer.
• The symptoms include 48 hours of fever, nausea, and headache.
• The treatment is similar to a person who is infected with Plasmodium vivax.
• The 20% of parasites cells are oval shapes and thus is termed as Ovale.

Cases in India

• According to the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), the case in Kerala is an isolated one and there is no local transmission.
• Previously, isolated cases were reported in Gujarat, Kolkata, Odisha, and Delhi.
• Researchers did a rapid antigen test to detect the strain and diagnosed Plasmodium Ovale.
• The parasite may remain in the liver or spleen of the body for a longer time.

Around the World

• Plasmodium Ovale the cause of malaria is endemic to tropical Western Africa only.
• According to the NIMR, Plasmodium ovale is unusual outside of Africa but when found comprises less than 1%.
• P ovale also been detected in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
• In the China-Myanmar border, the plasmodium ovale and plasmodium malariae have low prevalence.
• ●        In China’s Jiangsu Province, malaria cases decrease significantly over 2011-2014 but there was an increase in Plasmodium ovale and plasmodium malariae cases.