Plasmodium knowlesi Malaria in Children

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Barber, Bridget E. ; William, Timothy ; Jikal, Mohammad ; Jilip, Jenarun ; Dhararaj, Prabakaran ; Menon, Jayaram ; Yeo, Tsin W. ; Anstey, Nicholas M.
• Description:
  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.
• Subjects:
  • Research
  • malaria
  • Plasmodium knowlesi
  • children
  • Plasmodium falciparum
  • parasites
  • Malaysia
  • research
  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 17(5):814-820.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/24361/cdc_24361_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 232.96 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f4e62bf859594f83be92a3058608b4442a7289cbccbc546efef5efbb456f8a35