The malarial parasite can be rapidly diagnosed in humans using the fluorophore acridine orange coupled with other fluorophores and fluorescence microscopy.

Incident light fluorescence microscopy is growing rapidly in importance as an investigational tool in the fields of medical and biological research. All photomicrographs in this gallery were taken with Olympus microscopes employing UIS optics and a PM-30 automatic camera system. The specimen is a smear of human blood containing the malarial parasite stained with acridine orange. Photomicrographs were recorded utilizing a UPL 100x fluorite objective coupled to a WIB dichroic filter combination. A 3.3x projection photo eyepiece was used to transfer light from the intermediate image plane to the photographic emulsion.

Humankind is, until the end of its existence, in an evolutionary competition with invaders -- invaders of the earthly kind. Although microscopic, these invaders pose a serious health threat. The diseases they promote may be diagnosed categorically as bacterial, viral or parasitic. Widely considered the most serious of the parasitic diseases is malaria, which consists of four species of plasmodium protozoa whose mission is to infect, multiply in and break down human red blood cells, inducing fever and anemia. Although curable if detected early and adequately treated, malaria can be fatal. And fatality is of special concern in cases involving children, pregnant women and immune compromised individuals. Efforts to eradicate this disease have been set back by poor socioeconomic conditions, inadequate health systems, and uncontrollable changes in climate. Currently, the uphill battle against malaria has been compounded by the rise of drug-resistant parasites.

Malaria is a tropical parasitic disease; its carrier is the female anopheles mosquito belonging to the genus Plasmodium. Geographically, malaria inhabits and thrives in tropical and some subtropical zones. The four types of malarial protozoa are named P.vivax, P.oval, P.malariae and the most lethal, P.falciparum. Infection is characterized by fever, shivering, headache and weakness. It may progress to the state of cerebral malaria, infecting the brain--severe malaria in which parasitic infection runs rampant--or placental malaria presenting serious complications to a healthy pregnancy with the possibility of coma. Plasmodium falciparum is same lethal strain that has displayed a significant and recurring resistance to antimalarial drugs.

Transmission is instigated when a mosquito feeds on an infected human. Once inside the mosquito's gut, the malaria parasite reproduces itself. Eventually the mosquito passes the parasites to another human, upon which it feeds, by way of its salivary glands. Upon entering the human's blood stream, the parasites travel to the liver where they incubate. They then return to the blood stream and begin penetrating red blood cells. Once inside, the parasites consume the cell's contents, which in turn causes the cell to form sticky protrusions on its surface. This transformed surface causes the infected red blood cell to adhere to artery walls, thereby affording the parasite time to multiply and incubate, thus sustaining the life cycle.

An increasing threat to low-risk geographic populations is the importation of malaria by international travelers. This is especially true of visitors to countries where malaria is endemic. Travel advisories should be consulted. While there is no vaccine, prophylactic measures may be recommended.

For those countries enduring endemic proportions of malaria, several factors are being suggested. Importantly, at the top of the list is training health workers in microscopic diagnosis of malaria. Additionally, vector controls, even simple measures such as reduction in malaria parasite breeding grounds, are being instituted. Safe uses of existing pesticides are being reexamined. Scientists are also investigating those insecticides that are derived from naturally occurring substances. Innovative ways of dealing with the parasite include scientific investigation into methods that would inhibit the parasite's travel from the gut to the saliva of the mosquito; thereby, keeping the parasite from infecting humans. In an effort to find vulnerabilities in the malaria parasite, mapping of the Plasmodium falciparum genome has begun. And the battle wages on.