Passport Health logo
Find a Clinic:
Vaccinations|Find a Travel Clinic|Advice
  • Home
    • About
        • Company History
        • Executive Team
        • Careers
        • Contact Us
        • Customer Feedback
        • FAQ
        • Media Kit
        • Mission Statement
        • Passport Health App
        • Privacy Statement
    • Blogs
      • Main
      • Employer Solutions
    • Close
  • Destination Advice
    • Top Destinations
        • Brazil
        • China
        • Costa Rica
        • India
        • Kenya
        • Peru
        • Philippines
        • South Africa
        • Thailand
        • Vietnam
    • Destination Advice
          • Afghanistan
          • Albania
          • Algeria
          • American Samoa
          • Andorra
          • Angola
          • Anguilla
          • Antarctica
          • Antigua and Barbuda
          • Argentina
          • Armenia
          • Aruba
          • Australia
          • Austria
          • Azerbaijan
          • Azores
          • Bahamas
          • Bahrain
          • Balearics
          • Bangladesh
          • Barbados
          • Belarus
          • Belgium
          • Belize
          • Benin
          • Bermuda
          • Bhutan
          • Bolivia
          • Bonaire
          • Bora Bora
          • Bosnia
          • Botswana
          • Brazil
          • British Virgin Islands
          • Brunei
          • Bulgaria
          • Burkina Faso
          • Burma
          • Burundi
          • Cambodia
          • Cameroon
          • Canada
          • Canary Islands
          • Cape Verde
          • Cayman Islands
          • Central African Republic
          • Chad
          • Chile
          • China
          • Christmas Island
          • Cocos (Keeling) Islands
          • Colombia
          • Comoros
          • Cook Islands
          • Costa Rica
          • Cote d'Ivoire
          • Croatia
          • Cuba
          • Curacao
          • Cyprus
          • Czechia
          • Democratic Republic of the Congo
          • Denmark
          • Djibouti
          • Dominica
          • Dominican Republic
          • East Timor
          • Easter Island
          • Ecuador
          • Egypt
          • El Salvador
          • Equatorial Guinea
          • Eritrea
          • Estonia
          • Ethiopia
          • Falkland Islands
          • Faroe Islands
          • Fiji
          • Finland
          • France
          • French Guiana
          • French Polynesia
          • Gabon
          • Gambia
          • Georgia
          • Germany
          • Ghana
          • Gibraltar
          • Greece
          • Greenland
          • Grenada
          • Guadeloupe
          • Guam
          • Guatemala
          • Guinea
          • Guinea-Bissau
          • Guyana
          • Haiti
          • Hawaii
          • Honduras
          • Hong Kong
          • Hungary
          • Ibiza
          • Iceland
          • India
          • Indonesia
          • Iran
          • Iraq
          • Ireland
          • Israel
          • Italy
          • Jamaica
          • Japan
          • Jordan
          • Kazakhstan
          • Kenya
          • Kiribati
          • Kosovo
          • Kuwait
          • Kyrgyzstan
          • Laos
          • Latvia
          • Lebanon
          • Lesotho
          • Liberia
          • Libya
          • Liechtenstein
          • Lithuania
          • Luxembourg
          • Macau
          • Macedonia
          • Madagascar
          • Madeira Islands
          • Malawi
          • Malaysia
          • Maldives
          • Mali
          • Malta
          • Marshall Islands
          • Martinique
          • Mauritania
          • Mauritius
          • Mayotte
          • Mexico
          • Micronesia
          • Moldova
          • Monaco
          • Mongolia
          • Montenegro
          • Montserrat
          • Morocco
          • Mozambique
          • Namibia
          • Nauru
          • Nepal
          • Netherlands
          • New Caledonia
          • New Zealand
          • Nicaragua
          • Niger
          • Nigeria
          • Niue
          • Norfolk Island
          • North Korea
          • Northern Marianas
          • Norway
          • Oman
          • Pakistan
          • Palau
          • Palestinian Territories
          • Panama
          • Papua New Guinea
          • Paraguay
          • Peru
          • Philippines
          • Pitcairn Islands
          • Poland
          • Portugal
          • Puerto Rico
          • Qatar
          • Republic of the Congo
          • Réunion
          • Romania
          • Russia
          • Rwanda
          • Saba
          • St. Barthelemy
          • Saint Helena
          • St. Kitts and Nevis
          • St. Lucia
          • Saint Martin
          • St. Pierre-et-Miquelon
          • St. Vincent and the Grenadines
          • Samoa
          • San Marino
          • Sao Tome and Principe
          • Saudi Arabia
          • Senegal
          • Serbia
          • Seychelles
          • Sierra Leone
          • Singapore
          • Sint Eustatius
          • Slovakia
          • Slovenia
          • Solomon Islands
          • Somalia
          • South Africa
          • South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands
          • South Korea
          • South Sudan
          • Spain
          • Sri Lanka
          • Sudan
          • Suriname
          • Swaziland
          • Sweden
          • Switzerland
          • Syria
          • Tahiti
          • Taiwan
          • Tajikistan
          • Tanzania
          • Thailand
          • Togo
          • Tokelau
          • Tonga
          • Trinidad and Tobago
          • Tunisia
          • Turkey
          • Turkmenistan
          • Turks and Caicos Islands
          • Tuvalu
          • U.S. Virgin Islands
          • Uganda
          • Ukraine
          • United Arab Emirates
          • United Kingdom
          • United States
          • Uruguay
          • Uzbekistan
          • Vanuatu
          • Vatican
          • Venezuela
          • Vietnam
          • Wake Island
          • Western Sahara
          • Yemen
          • Zambia
          • Zimbabwe
    • Close
  • Travel Medicine
    • Travel Medical Services
        • Vaccines for Travel
        • Travel Health Consulting
        • Travelers’ Diarrhea Medicine
        • Dengue Fever Prevention
        • Malaria Medication
        • Chikungunya Prevention
        • Zika Virus Prevention
        • Coronavirus
        • Ebola Virus
    • Additional Travel Services
        • Motion Sickness Medicine
        • Travel Insurance
        • Physician Referral Program
        • Online Store
    • Close
  • Vaccines
    • Common Travel Vaccines
        • Typhoid
        • Yellow Fever
        • Hepatitis A
        • Rabies
        • Japanese Encephalitis
        • Malaria Information
    • Other Travel Vaccines
        • Anthrax
        • Cholera
        • Hepatitis B
        • Tickborne Encephalitis
        • Meningitis
        • Polio
    • Routine Vaccinations
        • Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis
        • Measles – Mumps – Rubella (MMR)
        • Pneumonia
        • Shingles
        • Influenza (The Flu)
    • Close
  • Other Services
    • Physical Exams
        • Immigration Medical Exams
        • Pre-Deployment Physicals
        • DOT/CDL Physical Exams
    • Additional Services
        • TB Tests
        • Titer Testing
    • Store
        • Travelers’ Diarrhea Kits
        • Mosquito Repellents
    • Close
  • For Employers
    • Corporate Wellness Solutions
        • Occupational Vaccines
        • Onsite Flu Clinics
        • Onsite Biometric Screenings
        • Employee Wellness
        • Employment Physicals
        • Travel Medicine and Vaccinations
    • Close
  • Locations
      • United States Map for Locations New Jersey Massachusetts Oregon Nevada South Dakota Montana Wisconsin California Kansas North Dakota Idaho Illinois Michigan Missouri Utah Indiana Louisiana Iowa Florida Georgia Washington Tennessee Alabama Mississippi Arkansas Arizona North Carolina Pennsylvania Ohio Kentucky South Carolina Virginia New Hampshire Rhode Island West Virginia New York Vermont Maine Connecticut Nebraska Oklahoma Colorado Wyoming Maryland Delaware New Mexico Texas Alaska Minnesota New Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts Rhode Island Connecticut New Jersey Delaware Maryland Hawaii District of Columbia
        Canada LocationsCanada Locations
        Mexico LocationsMexico Locations
        UK LocationsUK Locations
    • Close
  • Locations
    • Close

Mosquitoes and Malaria Are A Perfect (And Very Deadly) Couple

June 20, 2022 by Will Sowards Leave a Comment

Mosquitoes and malaria are a deadly combo that affects millions every year.

Mosquitoes have been considered more than a simple annoyance to humanity for years. They’re responsible for unleashing deadly diseases all over the world. One of those diseases is yellow-fever a protozoan pathogen responsible for a staggering amount of illness and death. And in the typical fascinating style of the natural world, the mosquito and malaria are working together. This symbiosis is much to their benefit – and our detriment.

Contrary to viruses like dengue or Zika, malaria is actually a microscopic parasite. Malaria is often found in mosquitoes living in Southeast Asia or Sub-Saharan Africa. And malaria is responsible for anywhere between one to three million deaths every year. More often than not, the victims are young African children.

You might consider something like a parasite to cause problems in their hosts, but malaria ends up doing the exact opposite in their mosquito homes. Malaria gives mosquitoes the heightened ability to find hosts, such as humans, through the smell of blood. And malaria works so well with mosquitoes that it even improves their functions. Mosquitoes are granted superpowers like more robust immune systems, better physical health, and improved reproductive ability.

Their alarming ability to “stay young” because of malaria means that older mosquitoes infected with the pathogen will continue to reproduce and seek out hosts well into their lives compared to uninfected mosquitoes. This reprogramming of the mosquito’s brain could be the missing link to fighting off malaria and keeping the mosquitoes that are infected from replicating the disease. And now that a link has been discovered between the two, scientists can start taking new approaches towards battling the illness and the mosquitoes.

Because these infected mosquitoes are more hungry for blood, malaria-infested mosquitoes are much more likely to cause more bites, increasing the chances of passing down their malaria to humans. Since the increase in feeding and reproduction benefits both the pathogen and the insect, it’s safe to say that their relationship is incredibly symbiotic. It will take much more research to determine if breaking up their relationship is possible.

There doesn’t seem to be a cut-and-dry solution to separating this deadly duo. But now that scientists better understand their relationship, it’s becoming much easier to develop new mosquito repellent options to help keep people safe from malaria. And the more we can keep diseased mosquitoes away from their food source, the more human precious lives we can save.

Passport Health provides antimalarials, repellents and more to individuals traveling throughout the globe. Call or book online to schedule your appointment today.

Written for Passport Health by CJ Darnieder. CJ is a freelance writer and editor in Chicago. He is an avid lover of classical music and stand-up comedy and loves to write both in his spare time.

Filed Under: General Posts

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Why Use a Travel Medicine Specialist?

Countless Considerations, Even for Just One Destination!

We Can Answer

  • Which vaccines are required?
  • Which vaccines may be recommended?
  • Which medications do I need?
  • What Travel Supplies do I need?

And much more

Do you need travel vaccines?

Schedule an appointment with your local Passport Health Travel Medicine Specialist

Find a Passport Health Clinic

Recent Blog Posts

  • When to Get the Twinrix Vaccine Before Traveling Abroad
  • Will There Ever Be a Cure For HPV?
  • How To Stay Healthy On A Cruise Ship
  • Is Typhus Deadly?

Blog Archives

  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Clinical Trials
  • Contact Us
  • Records Requests
  • Passport Health App
  • Privacy Center
  • Online Store
  • Sitemap
Schedule Your Appointment
Questions? Please call or E-mail Us
FIRST CLASS MEDICAL CARE
FOR TRAVEL ANYWHERE®
Connect With Us
Passport Health on Facebook
Passport Health on Twitter
Passport Health on YouTube
Passport Health on Instagram
Passport Health on Linked In
Passport Health Feed

Passport Health is an Outlier business Copyright © 2023