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Book

Plasmodium vivax Malaria

Lacey Menkin-Smith  1 , Walter T. Winders  1
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
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Affiliations
Book

Plasmodium vivax Malaria

Lacey Menkin-Smith et al.

Excerpt

Malaria is a significant global health problem with a substantial disease burden worldwide. In 2019 there were approximately 229 million cases of malaria responsible for about 409000 deaths, the majority on the African continent (WHO World Malaria Report 2020). Malaria results from infection with single-celled parasites belonging to the Plasmodium genus. Five species of Plasmodium are known to cause disease in humans: P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi. Globally, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax account for the majority of cases of malaria. While Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for more deaths, Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread of all of the malaria species, can cause severe, even fatal infections and results in significant global morbidity and mortality.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Lacey Menkin-Smith declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Walter Winders declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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