Treatment of malaria in children can be done by taking antimalarial medicines. These medicines need to be adapted to the type of parasite that causes malaria, its severity, or sufferer’s condition.
Anyone in a wide range of ages may get malaria. This disease, however, caused by the Plasmodium parasite and transmitted through Anopheles mosquito’s bites. The bites are most vulnerable to afflict vulnerable ages such as children and elderly. Besides, people who live or often travel to malaria endemic areas are also vulnerable to get infected by this disease. For that matter, parents need to consider more once they plan to travel with their children in this area, because children are not only easier to get infected, but also easy to experience serious complications due to malaria. For prevention, consult a doctor at Medi-Call through Medi-Call application to discuss further malaria endemic areas. The doctor will also give medicines to prevent you or your children to get infected by malaria. In addition, to get the best treatment of malaria in children, parents need to recognize the treatment of malaria in children once the disease attack their loved ones during holiday.
How can children get infected by malaria?
Malaria is a disease that spreads through mosquito bites. However, not every mosquito can cause malaria. Only female anopheles mosquitoes that have been infected with a plasmodium parasite can infect humans. There are various types of plasmodium which cause malaria i.e. plasmodium vivaks, falciparum, malariae, and ovale. The mosquito bites especially at dawn and late afternoon.
The symptoms of malaria is the most frequent fever chills sweating which is caused by parasites in the blood. The damaged red blood cells make a person pale, weak, decreased liver function. When humans are bitten by the anopheles mosquito, the parasite will enter the human body which leads to the human heart to grow and develop. The parasite that has grown and developed in the body goes on to run in the bloodstream. Parasites attack and destroy red blood cells. That’s the reason why a lot of plasmodium is found in red blood cells of the sufferers. Other symptoms of malaria include headaches, nausea, vomiting, and jaundice.
What is the treatment of malaria in children?
If children experience several symptoms of malaria while traveling, parents need to take action to treat their children. Here is the treatment of malaria in children while traveling or vacation with family:
- Have enough rest
Make sure the children are having enough rest and not doing any activities. One of the symptoms of malaria is fatigue and severe weakness. For that matter, it is important for children to save their energy, so the body can get rid of the source of the disease.
- Consume healthy food
When the children are infected by malaria, their body will definitely try to fight off the existing infection. By consuming healthy food, their body works optimally to recover from illness. This can be an effective way for the treatment of malaria in children.
- Keep their body temperature normal
Another important thing to do as treatment of malaria in children is by maintaining body temperature normal. In addition to giving fever-lowering medicines, parents can also attach compresses to reduce fever in children.
- Take medicines
One of the most effective ways for treatment of malaria in children is by giving them a combination of some medicines that are given for at least 3 days. World Health Organization (WHO) created combination of medicine regimen called Artemisin-based Combination Therapies (ACT) which includes:
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- A combination of artemether and lumefantrine
- A combination of artesunate and amodiaquine
- A combination of dihydroartemisinin and piperaquine
- A combination of artesunate, sulfadoxine, and pyrimethamine
For the treatment of malaria in children due to Plasmodium vivax infection, a combination of ACT or chloroquine can be given. In addition, in order to prevent the recurrence of this type of malaria, doctors can add primaquine medicines. You can see a doctor to get this combination medicine.
Generally, the treatment of malaria in children is treated by administering antimalarial medicines to kill parasites. The type and duration of medicines administration depends on the type of parasite that attacks, the severity of symptoms, and the patient’s condition. For that matter, it is very important to go a doctor to get appropriate treatment of malaria in children. Book a doctor at Medi-Call application to get the best service to treat your loved ones or for further information you can contact Medi-Call Call Center.
The best protection you can do to avoid malaria during holiday is to do the optimal prevention before vacationing in the tropics. With careful preparation, you can enjoy your holiday with your family without any disruption of malaria.