We studied thrombocytopenia during acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria in 64 traveller children from Paris (France), 85 children from Dakar (Senegal) with an intermittent exposure (69 with severe attack or cerebral malaria), and 81 children from Libreville (Gabon) with a perennial exposure (43 with severe attack or cerebral malaria). Initial thrombocytopenia was present in 43-58% of children wi...

Perspectives T he lack of a " gold standard " defi nition for severe malaria has been a longstanding problem for both clinicians and researchers. The defi nitions currently used comprise a set of clinical and laboratory parameters associated with an increased risk of death [1,2], combined with the presence of Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia [2,3]. In young children, these criteria are predomi...

Most clinicians in developed countries have limited experience in making clinical assessments of malaria disease severity and/or monitoring high-level parasitemia in febrile patients with imported malaria. Hyperparasitemia is a risk factor for severe P. falciparum malaria, and procalcitonin (PCT) has recently been related to the severity of malaria. In developed countries, where not all hospita...

Hemoglobin (Hb) C has been reported to protect against severe malaria. It is unclear whether relative resistance affects infection, disease, or both. Its extent may vary between regions and with disease pattern. We conducted a case-control study of children with severe malaria, asymptomatic parasitemic children, and healthy children in Ghana. HbAC did not prevent infection but reduced the odds ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the direct burden of malaria among children younger than 5 years in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the year 2000, as part of a wider initiative on burden estimates. METHODS A systematic literature review was undertaken in June 2003. Severe malaria outcomes (cerebral malaria, severe malarial anaemia and respiratory distress) and non-severe malaria data were abstracted separ...

Plasmodium vivax can cause severe malaria, however its pathogenesis is poorly understood. In contrast to P. falciparum, circulating vivax parasitemia is low, with minimal apparent sequestration in endothelium-lined microvasculature, and pathogenesis thought unrelated to parasite biomass. However, the relationships between vivax disease-severity and total parasite biomass, endothelial autocrine ...

Sequential gastrointestinal permeability in patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria was determined by measuring the permeation of sucrose, lactulose, and mannitol to assess both gastric and small intestine permeability. Sucrose absorption (gastroduodenal permeability) was increased in patients with severe malaria (defined as either >5% parasitemia or a serum bilirubin level of >50 micromol/...

Background: Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the protozoan Plasmodium, accounting for 36% of under-five mortality. About 4.5% all malaria-infected children reported at least one symptom severe malaria, with worsening outcome. COVID-19 and malaria shared similar clinical presentation in this similarity may lead to delay initiation treatment progression from uncomplicated forms conseque...

BACKGROUND The degree of volume depletion in severe malaria is currently unknown, although knowledge of fluid compartment volumes can guide therapy. To assist management of severely ill children, and to test the hypothesis that volume changes in fluid compartments reflect disease severity, we measured body compartment volumes in Gabonese children with malaria. METHODS AND FINDINGS Total body ...

Vitamin D plays an increasingly recognized role in the innate and adaptive immune response to infection. Based on demonstrated roles in up-regulating innate immunity, decreasing inflammation, and reducing the severity of disease in illnesses such as tuberculosis and influenza, we hypothesized that poor vitamin D status would be associated with severe malaria. We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25...