Successful management of malaria tropica with 50% parasitaemia

Abstract

History: A 52-year-old woman was hospitalized with fever after a 3-week stay in tropical Kenya. Prophylaxis against malaria had been carried out with chloroquine. Diagnosis: Falciparum malaria with 28% parasitaernia at first examination, rising to 50% after 3 hours. Treatment and course: Treatment with quinine dihydrochloride i.v. was initiated immediately after diagnosis. In addition, in view of increasing parasitemia of up to 50%, a partial exchange blood transfusion was carried out. No clinical signs of organ damage caused by malaria were observed. Because of a drop in blood pressure the patient needed catecholamine treatment for a short time. After decrease of the parasiterma the patient rapidly recovered and complete cure was achieved. Conclusion: Despite extremely high parasitemia the clinical signs were unusually mild. Standard treatment for severe malaria is intravenous administration of quinine. However, this drug is no longer sold in Germany, so that difficulty in obtaining it must be expected. A stockpiling of quinine is recommended for hospitals treating patients with malaria. Transfusion may improve outcome and must be considered if parasite counts are high or if there are clinical signs of malaria complications.