Malaria Incubation Period: An Overview
When a person becomes infected with one of the
Plasmodium parasites that cause
malaria, he or she will not feel sick immediately. The infected person may feel normal from seven days to several years after infection; however, inside his or her body, the malaria parasites are multiplying. The period between infection with the parasites that cause the disease and the beginning of
malaria symptoms is called the malaria incubation period.
Malaria Incubation Period: Specifics
For most people, the malaria incubation period is between 10 days to four weeks after the bite from the infected
Anopheles mosquito, although a person may feel ill as early as seven days after infection, or as late as several years later. The malaria incubation period will vary depending on the type of
Plasmodium parasite responsible for the infection.
Plasmodium falciparum tends to have a shorter incubation period, while Plasmodium malariae tends to have a longer incubation period.
The other kinds of malaria, Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale, can have a much longer malaria incubation period. For these parasites, a proportion of them may begin to grow immediately in the liver and cause symptoms after the normal incubation period. The remaining portion may remain inactive ("dormant") in the liver for several months (and up to about four years) after a person is bitten by an infected mosquito. When these parasites come out of hibernation, begin multiplying and then invade red blood cells, the person will become sick again. These "sleeping" forms are the causes of the relapses seen with these two species.
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