Cerebral Malaria
Currently endemic in 91 countries, malaria is one of the most deadly communicable diseases, affecting approximately 300-500 million people per year. Eighty percent of these cases occur in tropical Africa. The other 20 % are mainly confined to Asia and Latin America as shown below.
http://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/224/Malaria.html
The disease kills up to 2 million people annually, including 800,000 children under the age of five. Of these deaths, 20-50 % involve central nervous system.
Because the disease affects so many people, it has severe consequences for the local economies. It is estimated that the annual total "cost" of malaria is $18 billion due to factors such as health care, pharmacological treatment, and loss of working days.
The disease also has detrimental consequences for children where malaria is endemic. The average African child suffers about six bouts of malaria each year, which is a principle cause of poor school attendance.
A single celled parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is the predominant species causing malaria. P. falciparum affects the central nervous system 20-50% of the cases. Cerebral malaria is defined as the impaired consciousness leading to convulsions and unarousable coma. If untreated, cerebral malaria can be fatal within 24-72 hours. The mortality rate is 15-20 % in spite of treatment.
Photo 1: Mosquito biting human. For source, please see references page.
Photo 2: Blood vessels in the brain of a person with cerebral malaria. For source, please see references page
These pages were created as part of an undergraduate
class. For more information e-mail the author at rebergner@davidson.edu