Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an acute demyelinating disease occurring 1–3 wk after viral infection or vaccination1,2. Although most patients with ADEM make a full recovery, corticosteroids can be of help in severe cases. Generally, the diagnosis of ADEM is made by clinical history, neurological manifestations and magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the central nervous system. Neurological manifestations can occur both during and after malarial infection, particularly Plasmodium falciparum infection. These are infrequently encountered in P. vivax though post-malaria neurological syndrome (PMNS) has been reported from India3. ADEM has not been recognized as a common neurological complication of malaria. To the best of our knowledge only one case of ADEM following treatment of P. vivax malaria has been reported in literature4.