Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium parasites. The main symptoms of the disease include periodic attacks with chills, fever, and profuse sweating. Long-term and repeated episodes can lead to anemia and splenomegaly. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, malaria falls under the categories of "zheng nue," "wen nue," "han nue," and "zhang nue." The disease is caused by external factors such as malaria pathogens, epidemic dampness and toxins, or the influence of wind, cold, summer heat, and dampness, which damage the body's vital energy and lead to illness when invading internally.
Regular Malaria: Chills and high fever with episodes at certain times. Before the onset, there is yawning and fatigue, followed by chills and chattering teeth, after the chills subside, there is heat both inside and out, headache, red face, thirst with a desire for cold drinks, then profuse sweating throughout the body, the fever subsides, and the body cools, with a feeling of exhaustion and a desire to sleep. It occurs daily or every other day; the tongue is red, the coating is thin and white or yellow and greasy, and the pulse is tight and rapid.
Warm Malaria: There is more fever than chills, or fever without chills, with insufficient sweating, pain in the joints, thirst with a desire to drink, headache with occasional vomiting, constipation, and red urine; the tongue is red, the coating is yellow, and the pulse is tight and rapid or tight, thin, and rapid.
Cold Malaria: Severe chills with mild fever, or chills without fever, no thirst or a desire for hot drinks, fullness in the chest and hypochondria, fatigue and limb weariness; the tongue coating is white and greasy, and the pulse is tight and slow.
Warm Damp-Heat Malaria: High fever with little chill, or high fever without chills, headache and body aches, red face and bloodshot eyes, thirst with a preference for cold drinks, chest tightness and vomiting, constipation and dark urine; the tongue is red with a yellow, greasy coating or dirty black, and the pulse is surging and rapid or tight and rapid.
It is recommended to perform moxibustion once a day, targeting 2 to 3 acupoints each time, with each acupoint being treated for 30 to 40 minutes. Rotate the points treated, with a 10-day period constituting one course of treatment, and then rest for 2 to 3 days before continuing with the next course. (If time permits and there is a need, more acupoints can be treated with moxibustion. The specific duration should be adjusted according to one's own physical needs.)
1. Moxibustion is only used as an auxiliary therapy. During the malaria season, take precautions such as hanging mosquito nets and spraying insecticides to avoid mosquito bites. 2. If entering a malarial area, individuals with a fever above 37.5°C who are classified as "three fever patients" (i.e., clinically diagnosed with malaria, suspected malaria, or unexplained fever) should seek medical attention immediately. Delay in treatment can be fatal. 3. External application method: Fresh ginger 9 grams, rhubarb 3 grams, and Artemisia annua 10 grams are pounded into a paste and applied to the navel two hours before the onset of malaria. It is then covered with gauze and fixed in place.