Prognostic significance and course of retinopathy in children with severe malaria.

OBJECTIVES: To relate retinal findings in children treated for severe malaria to disease outcome and to determine the course of changes in the fundus. METHODS: A prospective study of children with cerebral malaria (CM) and severe malarial anemia admitted to the Malaria Research Project, Blantyre, Malawi, during 2 malaria seasons. Indirect and direct ophthalmoscopy were performed on admission and daily, subject to the patient's cooperation. RESULTS: Three hundred twenty-six patients (91%) with complicated malaria were recruited. Two hundred seventy-eight patients had CM and of these 170 (61%) had some degree of retinopathy; 25 (53%) of 47 with severe malarial anemia had retinopathy. In CM, retinopathy was associated with subsequent death (relative risk, 3.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.6-8.5) and papilledema conferred the highest risk (relative risk, 4.5; 95% confidence interval, 2.7-7.6). Increasing severity of retinal signs was related to increasing risk of a fatal outcome (P<.05), independent of papilledema. In survivors, retinal signs were associated with prolonged time to recover consciousness (P<.001). Patients with severe malarial anemia had better outcomes and less severe retinopathy than those with CM. In 116 patients with CM, fundi were followed up longitudinally during admission and in 27 patients after hospital discharge. A large increase in retinal hemorrhages was associated with death (P =.02). Retinal signs resolved over 1 to 4 weeks without retinal sequelae. CONCLUSIONS: In childhood CM, severity of retinopathy is related to prolonged coma and death. Our results support the hypothesis that retinal signs in CM are related to cerebral pathophysiology.

Bacteremia in Malawian children with severe malaria: prevalence, etiology, HIV coinfection, and outcome.

BACKGROUND: Previous prospective studies of bacteremia in African children with severe malaria have mainly included children with cerebral malaria, and no study has examined the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We examined the prevalence and etiology of bacteremia and the impact of HIV infection on bacteremia in Malawian children with severe malaria, as well as the impact of bacteremia and HIV infection on outcome. METHODS: From 1996 until 2005, blood for culture was obtained on admission from all children admitted with severe malaria during the rainy season to the Paediatric Research Ward at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. HIV testing was performed prospectively from 2001 to 2005 and retrospectively for those admitted from 1996 to 2000. Multivariate regression analysis examined independent risk factors for bacteremia and death. RESULTS: Sixty-four (4.6%) of 1388 children with severe malaria had bacteremia; nontyphoidal Salmonellae (NTS) accounted for 58% of all bacteremias. The prevalence of any bacteremia and of NTS bacteremia was highest in children with severe malarial anemia (11.7% and 7.6%), compared with the prevalence in children with cerebral malaria and severe anemia (4.7% and 3.8%) and in those with cerebral malaria alone (3.0% and 0.9%). HIV infection status was determined in 1119 patients. HIV prevalence was 16% (and was highest in those with severe malaria anemia, at 20.4%), but HIV infection was not significantly associated with bacteremia. Neither bacteremia nor HIV infection was associated with death. CONCLUSIONS: Antibiotics are not routinely indicated for children with severe malaria in this region, in which HIV is endemic. However, antibiotic therapy should be used to treat NTS infection if bacteremia is suspected in children with severe malarial anemia.