Plasmodium vivax

Plasmodium vivax is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen. The most frequent and widely distributed cause of recurring (Benign tertian) malaria, P. vivax is one of the five species of malaria parasites that commonly infect humans. It is less virulent than Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the five, but vivax malaria can lead to severe disease and death due to splenomegaly (a pathologically enlarged spleen). P. vivax is carried by the female Anopheles mosquito, since it is only the female of the species that bite.