Question

Write the name of toxic substance responsible for fever and chill in malaria.

Answer 1

The toxic substance responsible for fever and chill in malaria is Haemozoin.

Malaria is caused by the protozoan Plasmodium which is transmitted by the vector female Anopheles mosquito. The sporozoites of Plasmodium are infected into the human blood when its vector, the female Anopheles mosquito bites him. These sporozoites immediately reach liver through blood circulation where they multiply asexually and rupture the liver cells and are released into the blood, where they attack fresh red blood cells. These are called merozoites. Inside the RBCs, merozoites develops through a ring stage to form a schizont which divides further to form 8-24 merozoites. When the schizont is mature, the RBCs burst, releasing the merozoites into the blood. The rupture of RBCs is associated with the release of toxic substance haemozoin which is responsible for the chills and high fever recurring every 3-4 days.