Question

Plasmodium vivax causes
(a)Benign tertian malaria
(b)Malignant tertian malaria
(c)Quartan malaria
(d)Mild malaria

Answer 1

Hint: The disease caused by the Plasmodium Vivax is not much harmful as per its effect. It is a type of malaria-causing a fever that recurs every second day.

Complete answer:
Plasmodium vivax (P.Vivax) and Plasmodium Ovale (P. Ovale) cause benign tertian malaria, or a less dangerous type of malaria, whereas P.falciparum is responsible for malignant malaria. The benign tertian malaria is a fever that occurs every third day. It is considered benign since it is caused by P. Vivax and P. Ovale species. The mortality of infection with these species is very limited.
Additional information
Plasmodium vivax is a parasite of protozoa and is a pathogen to humans. This parasite is a widely spread and is a cause of recurrent malaria. Plasmodium falciparum is the deadliest of the five human malarial parasites and can lead to serious illness and death, frequently due to splenomegaly (a pathologically enlarged spleen).
Pathogenesis of P.Vivax is the result of the rupture of infected red blood cells which leads to fever. Infected red blood cells can also bind to capillary walls and to each other. Vessels plugin and strip oxygen from tissues. Infection can also cause the widening of the spleen.
Unlike P. falciparum, P. Vivax may fill the bloodstream with parasites at the sexual stage — the type that mosquitoes pick up on their way to the next victim — even before a patient shows symptoms. As a consequence, the treatment of symptomatic patients does not always help to stop an outbreak, as is the case with falciparum malaria, in which fevers occur as the sexual stages progress. The parasite is not instantly fatal even if the patients show symptoms. They tend to multiply. Plasmodium vivax can cause atypical symptoms and causes unusual malarial forms. Hiccups, loss of taste, lack of fever, pain when swallowing, coughing, and urinary distress are the common symptoms of P.Vivax that have been reported.
So, the correct answer is ‘Benign tertian malaria’.

Note: For days to years, the parasite can go dormant in the liver, causing no symptoms and remain undetectable in blood tests. They form what is called hypnozoites, a small stage that nests inside an individual hepatic cell. This name derives from ‘sleeping creatures’. The hypnozoites allow the parasite to live in temperate areas. A single bite of infection can cause six or more relapses a year, leaving patients more vulnerable to other diseases. Other infectious diseases tend to cause relapses, including falciparum malaria.