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Who discovered malaria parasites in the red blood cells of patients in 1880?
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malaria
Life cycle of a malaria parasite.
In 1880, the French military physician Alphonse Laveran discovered the parasite responsible for human malaria while working in Algeria.12
During his autopsies of malaria victims, Laveran identified the causative organism within the red blood cells of patients. He initially named the protozoan Oscillaria malariae, though it was later renamed Plasmodium. For this groundbreaking discovery, which laid the foundation for modern research into the disease, Laveran was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1907.12