Plasmodium (life cycle)
Plasmodium is a tiny living thing that can make you sick. It's like a little mosquito that lives inside your body and makes you feel really bad.
Plasmodium is the cause of a disease called malaria, which a lot of people get in places where it's hot and humid. This tiny mosquito-like thing travels from one person to another through the bite of a real mosquito.
When a mosquito infected with plasmodium bites you, it puts some of the tiny mosquito-like things into your body. They travel to your liver and they start multiplying, sort of like when you make copies of your favorite picture.
After they're done multiplying, they burst out of your liver and start making more tiny mosquito-like things that live in your blood. These little invaders grow bigger and bigger until they burst, and that's when you start feeling really sick.
The tiny mosquito-like things make more and more of themselves in your blood until your red blood cells start to break. This can make it hard to breathe and feel really tired. The tiny mosquito-like things can also make you feel really hot, like you have a fever.
Once they're done making lots of little invaders, the mosquito-like things burst again and the cycle starts all over again when another mosquito bites you. This can happen over and over again until you get better or you don't anymore.
To fight plasmodium, doctors can give you medicine that kills these tiny mosquito-like things in your blood. You can also protect yourself by using mosquito nets and wearing clothes that cover your skin.
Plasmodium is the cause of a disease called malaria, which a lot of people get in places where it's hot and humid. This tiny mosquito-like thing travels from one person to another through the bite of a real mosquito.
When a mosquito infected with plasmodium bites you, it puts some of the tiny mosquito-like things into your body. They travel to your liver and they start multiplying, sort of like when you make copies of your favorite picture.
After they're done multiplying, they burst out of your liver and start making more tiny mosquito-like things that live in your blood. These little invaders grow bigger and bigger until they burst, and that's when you start feeling really sick.
The tiny mosquito-like things make more and more of themselves in your blood until your red blood cells start to break. This can make it hard to breathe and feel really tired. The tiny mosquito-like things can also make you feel really hot, like you have a fever.
Once they're done making lots of little invaders, the mosquito-like things burst again and the cycle starts all over again when another mosquito bites you. This can happen over and over again until you get better or you don't anymore.
To fight plasmodium, doctors can give you medicine that kills these tiny mosquito-like things in your blood. You can also protect yourself by using mosquito nets and wearing clothes that cover your skin.