Congenital Malaria Diagnosis: Think Outside the Box | [Pakistan Paediatric Journal • 2020]

Author(s):

1. AZIZ ULLAH LANGAH: Department of Physiology, CMH Institute of Medical Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

2. SARA SADIQ: Department of Physiology, CMH Institute of Medical Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

3. ALI AKBAR SIYAL: Department of Physiology, CMH Institute of Medical Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

4. Noor ul Ain Ali: Department of Physiology, CMH Institute of Medical Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Abstract:

Congenital malaria is defined as the presence of malarial parasite in placenta at the time of delivery or in peripheral blood smear of newborn irrespective of clinical symptoms. Usually congenital malaria affecting the infant, whose mother having clinical attacks by malarial parasite during pregnancy while also rarely detected in infant of asymptomatic mother, where physician miss the diagnosis. There is delay onset of symptoms of congenital malaria because of the transplacentally acquired immunity from maternal antibodies which protect the newborn up to 3-6 weeks after birth. Any of the plasmodium species can cause congenital malaria including plasmodium vivax, falciparum, malaria and ovale. Its diagnosis is bit difficult due to quite different symptoms which create confusion with neonatal sepsis. As early diagnosis is a key point to avoid unnecessary administration of antibiotics and to decrease the infantile mortality so it should be placed in differential diagnosis of sepsis, unexplained fever, hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and hepatosplenomegaly. Because of its rarity herein we report a case of congenital malaria caused by plasmodium vivax in the rural area of Sindh Pakistan.

Page(s): 65-68

DOI: DOI not available

Published: Journal: Pakistan Paediatric Journal, Volume: 44, Issue: 1, Year: 2020

Keywords:

Hepatosplenomegaly , Congenital malaria , Plasmodium anemia

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