Plasmodium /plazmō″dē·əm/ pl. plasmodia [Gk, plasma + eidos, form] , a genus of protozoa, several species of which cause malaria, transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito. Plasmodium falciparum causes falciparum malaria, the most severe form of the disease; P. malariae causes quartan malaria; P. ovale causes mild tertian malaria with oval red blood cells; and P. vivax causes common tertian malaria. See also Anopheles, blackwater fever.
