**2.6 Plasmodium malariae**

*P. malariae* is one of the five human malaria parasites. It causes mild disease, which is therefore called benign malaria. *P. malariae* is found in the Amazon Basin of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, much of southeast Asia, Indonesia, and on many of the islands of the western Pacific [56]. The parasite causes a chronic infection that may sometimes last for a lifetime. Some of the major defining features of *P. malariae* include its longer (72-hour developmental cycle) (quartan periodicity) (compared with the 48-hour cycle of *P. vivax* and *P. falciparum)* and lower parasitemia compared to those in patients infected with *P. falciparum* or *P. vivax* [57, 58]. The signs and symptoms of *P. malariae* malaria include fever, chills and nausea and edema and the nephrotic syndrome has been documented with some *P. malariae* infections [57]. Like that of *P. vivax* and *P. ovale*, Chloroquine is also highly effective against *P. malariae* malaria [55].
