Laboratory Diagnosis:
The first step toward diagnosis (and treatment) of malaria is to consider malaria in the differential diagnosis!

Diagnostic findings

• Microscopic identification is the method most frequently used to demonstrate an active infection.
• Morphological comparison and images of Plasmodium species.
• Molecular diagnosis techniques can complement microscopy, especially in species identification.
• Antibody Detection can detect past (not necessarily active) infections.
• Immunologic/Biochemical detection of malaria parasite products are available and under evaluation.
• Bench aids for Malaria

Treatment:
Treatment varies according to the infecting species, the geographic area where the infection was acquired, and the severity of the disease.  A complete guide for treatment of malaria can be found on CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases Malaria Web site.  For additional information, see the recommendations in The Medical Letter for malaria treatment, malaria prevention, malaria self presumptive treatment, and relapse prevention (Drugs for Parasitic Infections)