Malaria Species — Differentiation

P. falciparum: • Most lethal — cerebral malaria, multi-organ failure • Irregular fever • All RBC ages parasitised → high parasitaemia • Multiple ring forms in single RBC + banana-shaped gametocytes • Treatment: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) P. vivax + P. ovale: • Hypnozoites (dormant in liver) → relapse weeks–years later • Tertian fever (every 48h) • Schüffner's dots in RBCs…