Malaria is diagnosed by looking for parasites in a drop of blood smeared on a slide under a microscope.
When I woke up in the middle of the night and proceeded to throw up every thirty minutes on the the minute, developing a high-grade fever and severe dehydration, it took no more than a finger prick and a look at the blood smear under a microscope to see the parasites in my blood. The diagnosis ranges from 1-5, 5 being the most severe and meaning that there were 5 parasites seen on the slide from a single drop of blood. Within 5 hours of showing symptoms, I had a blood smear, revealing level five. Immediately, I was given an IV to administer high dose anti-malaria drugs, anti-nausea, fever reducers and pain medicine. I was in good hands, and recovered fully in less than a week.
