I have had both falciparum and vivax (different years), confirmed by lab tests. The treatment was exactly the same in both cases. While one of them was quite debilitating, the other felt like an ordinary flu. I forgot which is which. In both cases, I was prescribed a month's worth of medication to get rid of the plasmodium from the liver.

I don't live in a malaria-prone locality anymore, but when I did, the people did not consider it a deadly disease. I think access to medical facilities and good nutrition are the key factors why some populations consider it a deadly disease, and other populations don't.