Abstract

GONZALEZ-ROBLES, ALBERTO JOSÉ; DURAN-SANCHEZ, SILVIA JULIANA  and  BARRIOS-CHAPARRO, ESTEFANÍA. Malaria relapse with brain involvement. Acta Med Colomb [online]. 2023, vol.48, n.3, e08.  Epub Apr 09, 2024. ISSN 0120-2448.  https://doi.org/10.36104/amc.2023.2678.

Malaria is an endemic parasitosis in more than 80 countries, with more than 200 million cases recorded in 2020. Recent literature has shown the economic impact and severity of the disease caused by the vivax variant, a species which has been underestimated.

We describe the case of a 19-year-old adult male who was a previously healthy active-duty soldier who had been living in the city of Bogotá for the last six months. He presented with a four-day history of fever coupled with headache, arthralgias and several diarrheal episodes, as well as a three-minute generalized tonic-clonic seizure without sphincter relaxation. He had total amnesia of the event. The only relevant point in the interview was a history of malaria treated seven months prior to admission, while he was in Amazonas Department. A thick blood smear taken during his stay confirmed the presence of Plasmodium vivax. The patient was treated with intravenous artesu-nate and diagnosed with cerebral malaria secondary to a relapse. (Acta Med Colomb 2022; 48. DOI:https://doi.org/10.36104/amc.2023.2678).

Keywords : complicated malaria; Plasmodium vivax; cerebral malaria; malaria relapse.

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