Malaria: medical and surgical complications
Navarro, P.; Silva, M.; Garrido, E.; Coronado, N.; Kaswan, E.
Boletin Chileno de Parasitologia 44(1-2): 17-23
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0365-9402 PMID: 2629767 Document Number: 341720
The number of malaria cases in Venezuela rose from 898 in 1962 to 46 279 in 1988. Ten cases of malaria with complications are described. Eight cases were acquired naturally, one as a consequence of drug addiction and one as a nosocomial infection (following an injection of heparin). Five of 6 cases of Plasmodium falciparum infection were resistant to chloroquine and were treated with quinine and other antimalarials. Among 3 cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria and one of mixed P. vivax and P. ovale infection, there was one case of spleen rupture, one of severe anaemia in a child, and a case of relapse in a child given insufficient therapy. Delayed diagnosis and inappropriate treatment, and the need for a national campaign in Venezuela, against the growing number of malaria cases are discussed.