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6) Paroxysm
In the sections “fever” and “chills,” we have described the cyclic nature of the symptoms in malaria. The clinical name of this phenomenon is known as paroxysm, and it is crucial to suspect a diagnosis. All Plasmodium species cause fever, chills, and sweating, but the paroxysm is slightly different in each case. For example, Plasmodium malariae causes quartan fever, which means high fever every 72 hours followed by profuse sweating.
This period is called tertian fever in the case of P. ovale and P. vivax. In the case of P. falciparum, it is sometimes difficult to identify a pattern. In the symptomatic period of the cycle, all of the symptoms described in this article are at their threshold. After sweating profusely, a few symptoms calm down temporarily before the next symptomatic period starts.
