malaria

ma·lar·i·a   (mə-lâr'ē-ə)    n.   An infectious disease characterized by cycles of chills, fever, and sweating, caused by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium in red blood cells, which is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito. Archaic Bad or foul air; miasma. [Italian, from mala aria, bad air : mala, feminine of malo, bad (from Latin malus; see mel-3 in Indo-European roots) + aria, air (from Latin āēr, from Greek; see wer-1 in Indo-European roots).] ma·lar'i·al, ma·lar'i·an, ma·lar'i·ous adj.

Main Entry: ma·lar·ia
Pronunciation: m&-'ler-E-&
Function: noun
1 : an acute or chronic disease caused by the presence ofsporozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium in the red blood cells, transmitted from an infected to an uninfected individual by the bite of anopheline mosquitoes, and characterized by periodicattacks of chills and fever that coincide with mass destruction of blood cells and the release of toxic substances by the parasite at the end of each reproductive cycle <malaria remains thegreatest single cause of debilitation and death throughout the world —Journal of the American Medical Association> —see FALCIPARUM MALARIA, VIVAX MALARIA
2 : any of various diseases of birds and mammals that are more or less similar to malaria of human beings and are caused by blood protozoans

malaria ma·lar·i·a (mə-lâr'ē-ə)
n.
An infectious disease characterized by cycles of chills, fever, and sweating, caused by the parasitic infection of red blood cells by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito. Also called jungle fever, paludism, swamp fever.

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ma·lar'i·al or ma·lar'i·an or ma·lar'i·ous adj.

malaria   (mə-lâr'ē-ə)  Pronunciation Key  An infectious disease of tropical areas caused by the parasitic infection of red blood cells by a protozoan of the genus Plasmodium, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected female mosquito. Malaria is characterized by recurrent episodes of chills, fever, sweating, and anemia and is endemic in Africa, Central America, and much of Southern Asia and northern South America.