| Revision as of 07:49, 20 November 2012 editSasata (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers74,333 edits →Epidemiology: check your sources; half a billion people do not get malaria annually!; citations please← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 22:24, 9 September 2024 edit undoTommygogd (talk | contribs)137 edits Little update on the meaningTags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit | ||
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| '''Cerebral malaria''' or '''CM''' is a neurological complication that arises due to infection of '']'', the most common and dangerous vector of ]. CM is the deadliest of all complications associated with malaria and most of the incidences of cerebral malaria found are within children under the age of five. In severe cases where the infection is not diagnosed in time or treatment is not provided, unarousable coma is common <ref name="Bienvenu 2011">Bienvenu, A. (2011). Neuroprotection and Cerebral Malaria: A new paradigm for treatment. Lambert Academic Publishing, 3. ISBN 9783843390040.</ref> and in many hospitals in ], there are wards full of children in a coma from one or a combination of both the advanced progression of the infection and the lack of medical treatment facilities. Children who survive a bout with CM often develop long-term cognitive issues such as memory impairment, language and verbal deficiencies, and motor deficits.<ref name="Desruisseaux 2010">{{cite journal |author=Desruisseaux, M. S., Machado, F. S., Weiss, L. M., Tanowitz, H. B., & Golightly, L. M. |year=2010 |title=Cerebral malaria: A vasculopathy |journal=American Journal of Pathology |volume=176 |issue=3 |pages=1075–1078 |pmid=20093501 |pmc=2832128 |doi=10.2353/ajpath.2010.091090}}</ref> The majority of the cases that occur are located in developing nations especially in Sub-Saharan Africa with approximately one million deaths to children alone<ref name="Shikani 2010">{{cite journal |author=Shikani, H.J., Freeman, B.D., Lisanti, M.P., Weiss, L.M., Tanowitz, H.B., Desruisseux, M.S. |year=2012 |title=Cerebral malaria: We have come a long way |journal=American Journal of Pathology |volume=181 |issue=5 |pages=1484–1492 |pmid=23021981 |pmc=3483536 |doi=10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.08.010}} {{open access}}</ref> where the medical infrastructure and education about health are not as developed.<ref>Comim, C. M., Reis, P. A., Frutuoso, V. S., Fries, G. R., Fraga, D. B., Kapczinski, F., et al. (2012). Effects of experimental cerebral malaria in memory, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and acetylcholinesterase activity in the hippocampus of survivor mice. Neuroscience letters, 523(2), 104–107.</ref>{{Unreliable medical source|primary source|date=January 2012}} It is also primarily isolated to tropical areas where mosquito control is made particularly difficult including Central and South America as well as Southeastern Asia. There is not a ] currently available possibly due to the decrease in incidence of the disease in the developed world to almost being completely eradicated with the exception of cases due to migrants and tourism to tropical areas so current treatment for cerebral malaria is anti-parasitic treatments which prove to halt the rapid advancement of the infection but survivors still experience neurological side effects.<ref name="Shikani 2010"/>{{Clarify|pre-text=?}} | |||
| This is a malaria that affects the brain and causes amnesia, unconsciousness, seizure and can lead to Coma or Death if not properly treated. | |||
| ==Signs and symptoms== | |||
| Symptoms of malarial infection by ''Plasmodium falciparum'' and cerebral malaria are often the same and are noticed 9 to 14 days after the initial infection. Certain initial flu-like symptoms such as sweats, fever, headache, and shivers occur in advance to the categorization of cerebral malaria, but once the infection becomes advanced enough where impairment of the brain or spinal cord occurs such as seizures or loss of consciousness.<ref>Malaria:Symptoms (2011) WebMD.</ref> Liver and kidney damage often also occur when malaria gets severe enough.<ref>Roman, G. (2012), Phone interview regarding Cerebral Malaria, Methodist Neurological Institute</ref>{{Better source}} Cerebral malaria can only occur with infection by ''P. falciparum'', which causes the most severe forms of malaria. Children under the age of 5 years are most at risk for infection with African children 0–5 accounting for 75% of the total malarial deaths per year.<ref>Bienvenu, A. (2011). Neuroprotection and Cerebral Malaria: A new paradigm for treatment. Lambert Academic Publishing, 3. </ref> This is believed to be due to the more at risk ] of children just like the immune system of pregnant women who are also significantly more at risk for infection. Spleen enlargement is one of the side effects of malarial infection and spleens of children who are constantly exposed to malarial infection can be noticed to be ten times the size of children from more developed areas. Adults who are exposed to malarial infection for long periods of time have an improved immune response to the virus and thus can kill the parasite quicker often before infecting the rest of the body. It is also thought that those that are carriers for ], a single-gene mutation found most commonly in those of African descent, are given greater immunity to malarial infection due to blocking of the entry of the parasite. Those that are ] for the ] though have irregularly shaped red blood cells often causing blockage of vessels and often causing premature ] and death. One of the largest and most deadly symptoms of cerebral malaria is ] due to the inability of the brain to take in glucose since the blood brain barrier loses its specificity.{{fact}} | |||
| ==Cause== | |||
| Mosquitoes carrying the ''P. falciparum'' virus infects a human host.<!-- Please check your sources; the mosquito does _not_ carry a virus! --> It{{clarify}} then travels through blood vessels into liver cells where it is proliferated and then infects ]s. The virus continues replicating until the red blood cells burst causing the virus to infect other areas. If the invading ] burst in the brain, the ] that form the inner layer of the vasculature of the brain are infected by the ''P. falciparum'' parasite. These endothelial cells are responsible for blood barrier specificity that is essential to keeping the brain energy and oxygen requirements at normal levels. The areas that are responsible for the particular specificity of the nutrient exchange across the capillaries to the brain are called ]. These gap junctions when infected by the virus begin to break causing ] specificity to be halted and thus nutrients, toxins, and anything else that is present in the blood is free to enter and leave with very little regulation. Cerebral malaria occurs so commonly since about 25% of the blood circulation goes to the brain due to the brain's large energy requirements being only 2% of the body weight but consuming 20% of the carbohydrates per day (see ]).<ref>Burdakov D, Jensen LT, Alexoplulos H, Williams RH, Fearon IM, O'Kelly I, Gerasimenko O, Fugger L, Verkhratskyl A (2006) Tandem-pore K+ channels mediate inhibition of orexin neurons by glucose. Neuron, 50(5), 711–722 </ref>{{Unreliable medical source|primary source|date=November 2012}} Recent studies have been done looking into co-infection with certain diseases and malaria including HIV co-infection and others which involve severe impairment of the immune system <ref name="Hochman 2009">{{cite journal |author=Hochman S, Kim K. |year=2009 |title=The impact of HIV and malaria coinfection: What is known and suggested venues for further study |journal=Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases |page=617954 |pmid=19680452 |pmc=2723755 |doi=10.1155/2009/617954}} {{open access}}</ref>. In addition to the damage done to the blood brain barrier in the brain, there is some damage to the ] which surrounds the nerves and this is caused by some of the immune responses to the parasite.{{fact}} | |||
| ==Diagnosis== | |||
| Right now the most effective way to diagnose cerebral malaria is the same as the way to diagnose regular malaria, with a commonly used ] checking for the presence of the parasite. Cerebral malaria requires a greater amount of care and treatment than regular malaria since it is an extreme form of malaria where the virus infects the brain causing adverse effects within the brain. But another way to classify if cerebral malaria is present is to do ] testing to see if the virus is actually ''P. falciparum'' not any other vector since only ''P. falciparum'' causes cerebral malaria. Other testing that can be done to check if the progression of the disease are ] to check for anemia from reduced red blood cell function, ], and ] to check if the patient is ].<ref>Malaria:Exams and Tests (2011) WebMD.</ref> Acute ], acute lung injury, severe ], shock ], ] and raised ] are other severe complications associated with malaria and often those suffering with cerebral malaria are also affected by one or more of the aforementioned conditions.<ref>Bienvenu, A. (2011). Neuroprotection and Cerebral Malaria: A new paradigm for treatment. Lambert Academic Publishing, 5. </ref> Much of the time, especially in the areas where cerebral malaria is most common, diagnosis is not determined until ] but from certain autopsy results of the brain, the effects can be seen very easily. The entire brain is shown to be affected since every area with ]s are broken down. In addition, the brain dissections of cerebral malaria patients show a greenish pigment present which is called ] and is very common and evident. The increased cranial pressure is caused by ] is one of the major causes of the neurological problems that are common in cerebral malaria cases since constant pressure of the brain upwards into the skull causes neurological damage if not decreased. This increased pressure is caused by the leaking of fluid through the junctions and an increased size of the ventricles is also noticeable in many cases.{{fact|date=November 2012}} | |||
| ==Prevention== | |||
| ] and the nature of the world today where it is so easy to travel to remote locations is responsible for the reemergence of cerebral malaria in the developed world. It is still a large problem in the developing world especially in tropical areas since it is difficult to control mosquitoes that have ''P. falciparum'' infection in areas like Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America. If one is traveling to a nation in the areas previously mentioned, it is advised to check if there are any recommended preventative measures to be taken in order to avoid malarial infection. It is often recommended by the ] (CDC) to take certain antibiotics and antimalarials listed on their website <ref> Malaria and Travelers(2012), Center for Disease Control</ref> which are often quite effective in preventing the infection from occurring. The assigned medication is often recommended to be taken around a week before traveling to the area that has potential for ''P. falciparum'' infection. Some of the common antimalarials that are recommended by the CDC include ], ], and ]. Each of these are different in the amount of time it needs to be ingested before traveling to the tropical area and have a number of other ] that come along with use, some of which are psychological. An additional problem with the currently used antimalarials is that they are not actually 100% effective in preventing malaria as there have been a number of cases reported of the virus gaining ] to drugs. This problem is partially due to the increased prevalence of malaria in third world nations in combination with the lack of regulation of distribution of ]s and ]s. This misuse of antibiotics along with lack of continuation of use of antibiotics and antimalarials after the symptoms leave causes drug-resistant strains to occur more commonly. Research has been going in ]s for some time now looking into certain steroids and other molecules that affect the elasticity of blood vessels but nothing yet is provided for human use.{{fact}} | |||
| ==Treatment== | |||
| There is currently no vaccine present for the cure of malaria. This is partly because malaria is a problem mainly controlled to very poor, third world areas thus there is not much of a research incentive to create a cure.{{fact}} Right now the treatment of malaria is to use oral antimalarials in all cases, but in most cases, death from cerebral malaria already occurs within 24 hours, often before antimalarial effects have made any effect. Due to the lack of accessibility to proper healthcare in a timely manner, most of the children with cerebral malaria have a delayed admission to the hospital and already exhibit symptoms such as impaired consciousness, repeated seizures, severe anemia, respiratory distress, shock, or hypoglycemia.<ref>Bienvenu, A. (2011). Neuroprotection and Cerebral Malaria: A new paradigm for treatment. Lambert Academic Publishing, 5. </ref> Many of the hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa and other areas where cerebral malaria is a part of everyday life for physicians do not have the capabilities to even properly treat the symptoms associated such as ] machines to replenish the patient's red blood cell count, which are commonplace in more developed hospitals. But in specific with severe malaria which is commonly what occurs in the case of cerebral malaria sometimes hemodialysis is necessary to replenish the red blood cells and ]s. Also respiratory machines or other aid to help with the many other complications that occur with malaria are often necessary in order to keep the cerebral malaria patients out of a coma, but again many of the facilities in these underdeveloped areas do not have this technology at hand. This is why it is not uncommon for hospitals in poorer African areas such as Ivory Coast to have many of their beds filled with children in a coma from cerebral malaria with very little chance of coming out of the coma since the patient is often too sick to transport to a different hospital and the hospital that the patient is at does not have the equipment to treat the symptoms present.{{fact}} | |||
| ==Epidemiology== | |||
| Malaria is one of the more historically significant diseases in human history. Malaria has been present in areas such as Sweden, Washington D.C., and Italy even up to the Civil War time. In fact malaria comes from an Italian word meaning "bad air". Now it is essentially eradicated from the developed world except in cases where someone has visited a tropical area and a little more than a week later begins to experience flu-like symptoms that are commonly associated with malaria. Now the annual estimated number of malaria cases is over 500 million{{Dubious}} with about 90% of these episodes taking place in sub-Saharan Africa.<ref>Bienvenu, A. (2011). Neuroprotection and Cerebral Malaria: A new paradigm for treatment. Lambert Academic Publishing, 5. </ref> Generally cerebral malaria infection is isolated to very poor areas including sub-Saharan Africa, Southeastern Asia, and Central and South America and primarily areas where there is little to no access to healthcare. This is because in areas with proper medical conditions, generally a physician will have diagnosed the patient with malaria before the advancement of cerebral malaria occurs. This is why there are still some cases of malaria present in the United States and other developed nations, but there are only very rare cases of cerebral malaria in these areas.{{fact}} | |||
| ==History== | |||
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| ==Society and Culture== | |||
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| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
Latest revision as of 22:24, 9 September 2024
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This is a malaria that affects the brain and causes amnesia, unconsciousness, seizure and can lead to Coma or Death if not properly treated.