Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in children.

Abstract

Plasmodium knowlesi can cause severe malaria in adults; however, descriptions of clinical disease in children are lacking. We reviewed case records of children (age <15 years) with a malaria diagnosis at Kudat District Hospital, serving a largely deforested area of Sabah, Malaysia, during January-November 2009. Sixteen children with PCR-confirmed P. knowlesi monoinfection were compared with 14 children with P. falciparum monoinfection diagnosed by microscopy or PCR. Four children with knowlesi malaria had a hemoglobin level at admission of <10.0 g/dL (minimum lowest level 6.4 g/dL). Minimum level platelet counts were lower in knowlesi than in falciparum malaria (median 76,500/μL vs. 156,000/mL; p = 0.01). Most (81%) children with P. knowlesi malaria received chloroquine and primaquine; median parasite clearance time was 2 days (range 1-5 days). P. knowlesi is the most common cause of childhood malaria in Kudat. Although infection is generally uncomplicated, anemia is common and thrombocytopenia universal. Transmission dynamics in this region require additional investigation.

• Authors: Bridget E Barber, Timothy William, Mohammad Jikal, Jenarun Jilip, Prabakaran Dhararaj, Jayaram Menon, Tsin W Yeo, Nicholas M Anstey
• Journal: Emerging infectious diseases (Emerg Infect Dis) Vol. 17 Issue 5 Pg. 814-20 (May 2011) ISSN: 1080-6059 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21529389 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Antimalarials
• Chloroquine
• Primaquine

Topics

• Adolescent
• Age Factors
• Anemia (etiology)
• Antimalarials (therapeutic use)
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Chloroquine (therapeutic use)
• Female
• Humans
• Malaria (complications, diagnosis, drug therapy, physiopathology, transmission)
• Malaria, Falciparum (drug therapy, physiopathology)
• Male
• Plasmodium knowlesi (physiology)
• Primaquine (therapeutic use)
• Retrospective Studies
• Sex Factors
• Thrombocytopenia (etiology)
• Treatment Outcome