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Definitions
Below is a directory of terms used to talk about malaria. Most definitions have been taken from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
C
Cerebral malaria
A complication of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, in which infected red blood cells obstruct blood circulation in the small blood vessels in the brain. When cerebral malaria is present, the disease is classified as severe malaria.
Chemoprophylaxis
Taking antimalarial drugs to prevent the disease.
Chloroquine
A drug used against malaria. A very safe and inexpensive drug, its value has been compromised by the emergence of chloroquine-resistant malaria parasites.
Clinical cure
Elimination of malaria symptoms, sometimes without eliminating all parasites. See "radical cure" and "suppressive cure/treatment."
Congenital malaria
Malaria in a newborn or infant, transmitted from the mother at birth.
Cryptic
A case of malaria where epidemiologic investigations fail to identify an apparent mode of acquisition (this term applies mainly to cases found in non-endemic countries).
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