Malaria

Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites of the Plasmodium genus, transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito (Buck E et al. (2024)). Of the species that infect humans, P. falciparum is the most prevalent and dangerous, leading to the most severe and fatal forms of the disease.

Infection begins when a mosquito injects sporozoites into the bloodstream (Milner DA. (2018)). These sporozoites travel to the liver, where they multiply and form merozoites, which are later released into the bloodstream. Once in circulation, merozoites invade red blood cells, progressing through several developmental stages. The eventual rupture of these cells releases more parasites, continuing the infection cycle and causing symptoms.

Key pathogenic mechanisms involve the direct destruction of red blood cells, leading to hemolysis, and the immune system's inflammatory response, resulting in systemic symptoms. Infected red blood cells can also accumulate in small blood vessels, leading to issues like cerebral malaria.

Symptoms of malaria, such as fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, and chills, are non-specific and may resemble other illnesses. In severe cases, particularly with P. falciparum, complications may include coma, respiratory distress, renal failure, severe anemia, and multiorgan failure.

Because of its non-specific presentation, malaria should be considered in any patient with fever with a recent travel history to malaria-endemic regions.

WHO - Malaria

Differential Abundance Analysis Results

This section presents the results of the differential protein abundance analysis, visualized through a volcano plot and summarized in the accompanying table for all three comparisons: 1) disease vs. healthy samples, 2) disease vs. diseases from the same class, and 3) disease vs. all other diseases.