Malaria Definition

[n] an infective disease caused by sporozoan parasites that are transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito; marked by paroxysms of chills and fever

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See Also...

ague, blackwater fever, chills and fever, jungle fever, protozoal infection

Related Terms

acute articular rheumatism, African lethargy, afterdamp, ague, alkali disease, amebiasis, amebic dysentery, anthrax, Asiatic cholera, bacillary dysentery, bastard measles, black death, black fever, blackdamp, blackwater fever, breakbone fever, breath, bru

Misc. Definitions

\Ma*la"ri*a\, n. [It., contr. fr. malaaria bad air. See {Malice}, and Air.]
1. Air infected with some noxious substance capable of engendering disease; esp., an unhealthy exhalation from certain soils, as marshy or wet lands, producing fevers; miasma. Note: The morbific agent in malaria is supposed by some to be a vegetable microbe or its spores, and by others to be a very minute animal blood parasite (an infusorian).
2. (Med.) A morbid condition produced by exhalations from decaying vegetable matter in contact with moisture, giving rise to fever and ague and many other symptoms characterized by their tendency to recur at definite and usually uniform intervals.