What is the Difference Between Malaria and Filariasis

The key difference between malaria and filariasis is that malaria occurs due to the bite of an Anopheles mosquito infected with Plasmodium, while filariasis occurs due to the bite of a Culex mosquito infected with the filarial nematode.

Mosquito-borne diseases are diseases that spread via the bite of an infected mosquito. These diseases result in lethal complications. Malaria and filariasis are two such lethal mosquito-borne diseases.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Malaria 
3. What is Filariasis
4. Similarities – Malaria and Filariasis
5. Malaria vs Filariasis in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Malaria vs Filariasis

What is Malaria?

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a single-cell parasite of the genus Plasmodium. This parasite spreads to humans through a bite of a mosquito called Anopheles. The symptoms of malaria include fever, chills, feeling discomfort, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fatigue, rapid breathing, muscle or joint pain, rapid heart rate, and coughing. The complications involved in this disease include cerebral malaria, breathing problems, organ failure, anemia, and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

Malaria can be diagnosed through medical history, recent travel history and physical and clinical evaluation, and blood tests. Furthermore, treatment options for malaria are medications (antimalarial) such as chloroquine phosphate, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone), quinine sulfate (Qualaquin) with doxycycline (Oracea, Vibramycin, and other brands) and primaquine phosphate.

What is Filariasis?

Filariasis is a parasitic disease that is caused by an infection with roundworms of the Filarioidea species. The parasite is spread by blood-feeding insects such as black flies and mosquitoes (Culex). These parasites can be found in subtropical parts of Southern Asia, Africa, the South Pacific, and South America. The signs and symptoms of this condition include edema with thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, rashes, urticarial papules, arthritis, hyper- and hypopigmentation macules, and river blindness. The complications associated with filariasis are lymphoedema, skin or tissue thickening of limbs, hydrocele or scrotal swelling, and blindness.

Filariasis can be diagnosed through physical examination and microfilariae on Giemsa stained, thin, and thick blood film smears (finger prick test.). Furthermore, the recommended treatment for malaria for people living outside the United States is albendazole combined with ivermectin. Moreover, a combination of diethylcarbamazine and albendazole is also effective against malaria. In addition, proper hygiene and antibiotic doxycycline also are suggested to mitigate this disease.

What are the Similarities Between Malaria and Filariasis?

• Malaria and filariasis are two lethal mosquito bone diseases.
• They are caused by parasites.
• Both diseases can cause complications.
• They can be diagnosed through physical examinations and blood tests.
• These diseases are treated through specific medications.

What is the Difference Between Malaria and Filariasis?

Malaria is caused by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito infected with a Plasmodium species, while filariasis is caused by the bite of the Culex mosquito infected with the filarial nematode. Thus, this is the key difference between malaria and filariasis. Furthermore, the complications involved in malaria are cerebral malaria, breathing problems, organ failure, anemia, and low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). On the other hand, the complications involved in filariasis are lymphoedema, skin or tissue thickening of limbs, hydrocele or scrotal swelling, and blindness.

The below infographic presents the differences between malaria and filariasis in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Malaria vs Filariasis

Malaria and filariasis are two mosquito bone diseases that are caused by two different parasites. These diseases result in lethal complications. Malaria occurs when an Anopheles mosquito infected with the Plasmodium species bites humans. In contrast, filariasis occurs when a Culex mosquito infected with the filarial nematode bites humans. So, this is the key difference between malaria and filariasis.

Reference:

1. “Malaria.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 9 Feb. 2023.
2. Michael Stuart Bronze, MD. “Filariasis.” Practice Essentials, Background, Pathophysiology, Medscape, 2 Feb. 2023.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Life Cycle of the Malaria Parasite” By NIAID (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Lymphatic filariasis can cause pain, disability, and disfigurement” By RTI Fights NTDs (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr