Articles: malaria-complications.
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As international efforts to increase the coverage of artemisinin-based combination therapy in public health sectors gather pace, concerns have been raised regarding their continued indiscriminate presumptive use for treating all childhood fevers. The availability of rapid-diagnostic tests to support practical and reliable parasitological diagnosis provides an opportunity to improve the rational treatment of febrile children across Africa. However, the cost effectiveness of diagnosis-based treatment polices will depend on the presumed numbers of fevers harbouring infection. Here we compute the number of fevers likely to present to public health facilities in Africa and the estimated number of these fevers likely to be infected with Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites. ⋯ Spatial estimates of childhood fevers and care-seeking rates can be combined with a relational risk model of infection prevalence in the community to estimate the degree of parasitemia in those fevers reaching public health facilities. This quantification provides an important baseline comparison of malarial and nonmalarial fevers in different endemicity settings that can contribute to ongoing scientific and policy debates about optimum clinical and financial strategies for the introduction of new diagnostics. These models are made publicly available with the publication of this paper.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · May 2010
Immunopathology and dexamethasone therapy in a new model for malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Malaria infection is often complicated by malaria-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (MA-ARDS), characterized by pulmonary edema and hemorrhages. No efficient treatments are available for MA-ARDS and its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. ⋯ We developed a novel model of MA-ARDS with many similarities to human MA-ARDS and without cerebral complications. This contrasts with the more classical model with P. berghei ANKA, characterized by fulminant cerebral malaria. Hence, infection with P. berghei NK65 generates a broader time window to study the pathogenesis and to evaluate candidate treatments. The finding that high doses of dexamethasone cured MA-ARDS suggests that it might be more effective against MA-ARDS than it was in the clinical trials for cerebral malaria.
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To assess the performance of WHO's "Guidelines for care at the first-referral level in developing countries" in an area of intense malaria transmission and identify bacterial infections in children with and without malaria. ⋯ In an area exposed to high transmission of malaria, current WHO guidelines failed to identify almost a third of children with invasive bacterial disease, and more than half of the organisms isolated were not susceptible to currently recommended antimicrobials. Improved diagnosis and treatment of invasive bacterial disease are needed to reduce childhood mortality.
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Malaria remains a major health concern in tropical and subtropical countries. A large number of cases of malaria have been reported from the State of Orissa, India. Severe malaria cases are reported throughout the year, but they are more common during the high transmission season. The last decade has witnessed a changing pattern of presentations and complications across the country. Severe falciparum malaria is an important cause of multiple organ failure in Indian intensive care unit (ICU) patients. ⋯ Severe falciparum malaria is a common cause of multi-organ failure in the ICUs in eastern India. There has been no change in the pattern of presentations over the last ten years in the east Indian state of Orissa. Apart from early diagnosis and treatment, good supportive care is the mainstay for better outcome in these cases.
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Retinal hemorrhage is a frequently observed sign in Plasmodium falciparum infection. In Plasmodium vivax infection, however, retinal hemorrhage is very rare; only five cases have been reported in the literature. ⋯ We analyzed the structural characteristics of the lesions using fluorescein angiography and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of retinal hemorrhage in malaria patients, even those with P. vivax infection, and should consider a diagnosis of malaria in a patient with unexplained retinal hemorrhage and fever.