The impacts of malariaAround 300 million people worldwide are affected by malaria and between 1 and 1.5 million die every year. Malaria is now confined mainly to Africa, Asia and Latin America, having previously spread throughout the world. Malaria control problems in these countries are accentuated due to insufficient health facilities and poor socioeconomic conditions. The situation has become complicated in recent years with the increase in resistance to the drugs normally used to fight the parasite that causes the disease. Malaria is a serious parasitic infection that is transmitted through the bite of certain mosquitoes. A parasite is an organism that survives by living inside a larger organism, called a host. Malaria spreads in three ways. The most common is the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. However, malaria can also spread through a transfusion of infected blood or by sharing a needle with an infected person. There are four different species of parasites that cause malaria. They are:n Plasmodium falciparum (which is the most deadly),n P. vivax,n P. malariae andn P. ovale. When an infected mosquito bites a person, the parasites enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver. They multiply in the liver and then return to the blood, where they continue to grow and multiply so rapidly that they block blood vessels and break down blood cells. When red blood cells burst, the parasites are released and then attack other red blood cells. Malaria is not contagious, meaning one person cannot transmit it directly to another. However, if an uninfected mosquito bites an infected person, it infects malaria parasites. Like AIDS, the malaria virus can remain in the body for up to several months before initial symptoms develop. Most people survive a malaria attack after 10 to 20 days of illness, but it is important to detect symptoms early.