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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In an attempt to assess concepts of disease, we questioned 33 Ethiopian Jews (Falashas) in Ethiopia about 13 diseases: 8 western and 5 cultural syndromes (in the Amharic language): birrd (cold), wugat (stabbing chest pain), moygnbagegn (neurologic disorder), mitch (sunstroke), and attent hono kere (retained fetus becoming bone). Disease causation was often attributed to spirits and the sun. None of the interviewees understood the cause of: a) epilepsy, most attributing it to spirits and recommending smelling match smoke as treatment, b) prolonged labor, attributed by most to the evil kole spirit and is managed by traditional birth attendants; and c) abortion, believed to be caused by exposure to sun or cold. Less than 20% linked malaria to mosquitoes. Most correlated splenomegaly with malaria. Hepatitis was believed to be caused by a bird or bat flying around the affected person. Multiple factors were linked to diarrhea, including a journey in the sun. Moygnbagegn is the only condition treated by venisection from brachial veins; wugat is treated by "cupping". Modern medicine was recommended by < 30% of those questioned for epilepsy, splenomegaly, hepatitis, and Ethiopian cultural diseases. It was recommended most for malaria (52%), sexually transmitted diseases (55%), and diarrhea (69%).
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PMID:Traditional beliefs and disease practices of Ethiopian Jews. 875 85

One hundred and sixty eight febrile adult outpatients were investigated at St Francis Designated District Hospital in fakara, a holoendemic area in Tanzania. We wanted to assess the potential anamnestic and clinical risk indicators for malaria and to establish a rational strategy for malaria management. Blood slide investigations showed that 14% of all patients were positive for P. falciparum. All the positive cases were found during the rainy season. No reliable criteria for malaria were found in the history taking and physical examinations. Signs and symptoms of respiratory tract infection such as difficulties during breathing, sore throat, chest pain, cough, pathological findings in lung auscultation and combinations of these were negatively associated with malaria parasitaemia. The same was true for lymph node swelling and a clinical diagnosis other than malaria. Quality control of blood slide results from the hospital revealed a sensitivity of 55%, a specificity of 72%, and positive and negative predictive values of 24% and 91%. The main recommendations for malaria management in adults were to improve the quality of blood slide examinations and to use a different diagnostic strategy during the dry and rainy seasons. During the dry season blood slides of febrile adult patients should only be performed if there is a suspicion of malaria and antimalarial drugs should only be administered if blood slide results are positive. During the rainy season all febrile adults without obvious cause of fever other than malaria should be treated with antimalarials without previous blood slide examination.
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PMID:Towards a rational malaria management at district hospital level: exploratory case series of febrile adult patients in a holoendemic area of Tanzania. 1107 50

Malaria, a major killer of mankind, apart from classical ague presentation, may present with respiratory manifestations. This may be misdiagnosed and important time may be lost in instituting antimalarials leading to higher morbidity and mortality. Present work was undertaken to study the clinical presentations of malaria with special reference to respiratory system and to evaluate the effect of antimalarials to such atypical presentation. One hundred slide positive cases of malaria were taken and detailed for respiratory involvement. Response to antimalarials was seen in these cases and associated complications (if any) were looked for. Mean age of the cases was 29.3 years with a male predominance. Positivity of peripheral smear read as: P vivax(53%), P falciparum (36%) and mixed infection (11%). Twenty-six patients had presented with respiratory manifestations-bronchitis (15), pneumonia (4), asthmatic bronchitis (1), adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (4) and pulmonary tuberculosis (2). Of these 26 cases, presenting symptoms noticed were cough (77%), dyspnoea (32%), expectoration (29%) and chest pain (15%). Twenty-five (96%) of these 26 patients were positive for P falciparum. Response to antimalarials was not significantly different in these 26 patients as compared to the rest (74 cases). All patients developing ARDS expired. The present study concludes that malarial atypical respiratory presentations are far higher in incidence than reported in literature. Peripheral smear examination in all patients of high grade fever with chills and rigors and having respiratory manifestations may unmask malarial infection and warrant early antimalarial treatment resulting in decreased morbidity and mortality.
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PMID:Pulmonary manifestations in malaria. 1125 88

A 42-year-old female patient with acute myeloid leukemia presented with fever and heavy chest pain after her first cycle of specific chemotherapy. Acute myocardial infarction was excluded, but surprisingly, parasitic inclusions in erythrocytes became obvious in Pappenheim and Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smears. The patient did not remember a tick bite but acknowledged having received several blood transfusions in her recent medical history. Suspicion of malaria was ruled out by use of a dip-stick test. The diagnosis of Babesia microti infection was finally established by specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Six weeks after initiation of specific treatment, PCR turned negative and a positive immunoflourescence assay (IFA) with an IgG titer of 1:128 indicated seroconversion. Subsequent screening of donors involved in the transfusion of blood products to the patient demonstrated borderline reactivity for Babesia microti (IgG-titer 1:32) in 1 out of 44 individuals. Neither the patient nor the positively tested blood donor had travelled to North America or Asia. Therefore, this is the first confirmed autochthonous human infection in Europe.
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PMID:First confirmed autochthonous case of human Babesia microti infection in Europe. 1758 72

Toddalia asiatica (L) Lam. (Rutaceae) has been used by traditional health practitioners in East Africa for management of diseases, however, the extent of its usefulness has not been established to date. Fieldwork for this study was carried out in the Lake Victoria Basin between March and September 2006. The purpose was to collect ethnomedical information that will serve as a basis for further studies to establish current and potential medicinal uses. The ethnomedical information was obtained through interviews using semi-structured questionnaires. Consultative meetings were also conducted with traditional health practitioners and other members of the communities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Results of this study show that Toddalia asiatica is collected in the wild, prepared mostly as decoctions or concoctions and administered orally. It is used for the management of a number of disease conditions. The most frequently cited diseases were stomach problems (78%) followed by malaria (25%). Cough (22%), chest pain (13%), food poisoning (8%), sore throat (7%), were also mentioned among other disease conditions treated. Validation studies of therapeutic claims will be carried out at a later date.
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PMID:The use of Toddalia asiatica (L) Lam. (Rutaceae) in traditional medicine practice in East Africa. 1799 12

This paper describes ethnopharmacological knowledge on the uses of Erythrina senegalensis DC (Fabaceae) in traditional medicine in three different areas (Dioila, Kolokani and Koutiala) in Mali. Data were collected using interviews of traditional healers selected randomly. The main reported diseases for which E. senegalensis was used by the traditional healers were amenorrhea, malaria, jaundice, infections, abortion, wound, and body pain (chest pain, back pain, abdominal pain etc). The fidelity level (which estimates the agreement of traditional healers on the same area about a reported use of the plant) was calculated to compare the results from the three areas. Certain differences were noticed, the most striking was the fact that amenorrhea was the most reported disease in Dioila and Kolokani with 21% of agreement for both areas, while this use was not reported in Koutiala at all. Similarities existed between the three areas on the use of the plant against malaria and infections, although with different degree of agreement among the healers. We also report the results of a literature survey on compounds isolated from the plant and their biological activities. A comparison of these results with the ethnopharmacological information from Mali and other countries showed that some of the traditional indications in Mali are scientifically supported by the literature. For instance, the use of E. senegalensis against infectious diseases (bilharzias, schistosomiasis, pneumonia etc.) is sustained by several antibacterial and antifungal compounds isolated from different parts of the plant. The comparison also showed that pharmacologists have not fully investigated all the possible bioactivities that healers ascribe to this plant.
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PMID:Ethnopharmacological uses of Erythrina senegalensis: a comparison of three areas in Mali, and a link between traditional knowledge and modern biological science. 1832 74

Malaria is a rare cause of splenic infarction. Only a few cases have been reported worldwide, mostly associated with Plasmodium falciparum infection. Here we report a series of four acute malaria patients with splenic infarction, two with P. vivax infection, one with P. falciparum and one with a mixed infection (P. vivax and P. falciparum). This small case series suggests that if a patient with malaria is complaining of left upper quadrant abdominal pain, pleuritic left lower chest pain and/or enlarging tender splenomegaly during treatment, splenic infarct should be suspected and managed accordingly to avoid further life-threatening complications.
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PMID:A case series of splenic infarction during acute malaria in northwest Rajasthan, India. 2067 39

A 20 year-old healthy female volunteer participated in a clinical Phase I and IIa safety and efficacy trial with candidate malaria vaccine PfLSA-3-rec adjuvanted with aluminium hydroxide. Eleven weeks after the third and last immunization she was experimentally infected by bites of Plasmodium falciparum-infected mosquitoes. When the thick blood smear became positive, at day 11, she was treated with artemether/lumefantrine according to protocol. On day 16 post-infection i.e. two days after completion of treatment, she woke up with retrosternal chest pain. She was diagnosed as acute coronary syndrome and treated accordingly. She recovered quickly and her follow-up was uneventful. Whether the event was related to the study procedures such as the preceding vaccinations, malaria infection or antimalarial drugs remains elusive. However, the relation in time with the experimental malaria infection and apparent absence of an underlying condition makes the infection the most probable trigger. This is in striking contrast, however, with the millions of malaria cases each year and the fact that such complication has never been reported in the literature. The rare occurrence of cardiac events with any of the preceding study procedures may even support a coincidental finding. Apart from acute coronary syndrome, myocarditis can be considered as a final diagnosis, but the true nature and patho-physiological explanation of the event remain unclear.
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PMID:Cardiac complication after experimental human malaria infection: a case report. 1995 49

Orchids have been used as a source of medicine for millennia to treat different diseases and ailments including tuberculosis, paralysis, stomach disorders, chest pain, arthritis, syphilis, jaundice, cholera, acidity, eczema, tumour, piles, boils, inflammations, menstrual disorder, spermatorrhea, leucoderma, diahorrhea, muscular pain, blood dysentery, hepatitis, dyspepsia, bone fractures, rheumatism, asthma, malaria, earache, sexually transmitted diseases, wounds and sores. Besides, many orchidaceous preparations are used as emetic, purgative, aphrodisiac, vermifuge, bronchodilator, sex stimulator, contraceptive, cooling agent and remedies in scorpion sting and snake bite. Some of the preparations are supposed to have miraculous curative properties but rare scientific demonstration available which is a primary requirement for clinical implementations. Incredible diversity, high alkaloids and glycosides content, research on orchids is full of potential. Meanwhile, some novel compounds and drugs, both in phytochemical and pharmacological point of view have been reported from orchids. Linking of the indigenous knowledge to the modern research activities will help to discover new drugs much more effective than contemporary synthetic medicines. The present study reviews the traditional therapeutic uses of orchids with its recent advances in pharmacological investigations that would be a useful reference for plant drug researches, especially in orchids.
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PMID:Therapeutic orchids: traditional uses and recent advances--an overview. 2085 51

A 40-year-old healthy manual labourer from a malaria endemic area with no known risk factors for atherosclerotic coronary vascular disease was admitted to our hospital with a history of fever with chills and rigours. Physical examination revealed tachypnoea and icterus. Peripheral smear showed trophozoites of Plasmodium vivax and thrombocytopaenia. The patient was administered artesunate. Six hours after admission, he complained of severe substernal chest pain. A 12-lead ECG revealed ST elevations in leads I, II and aVL. Troponin T and creatine kinase MB were elevated and the random blood sugar was 49 mg%. Echocardiogram revealed left ventricle lateral wall hypokinesia. Hypoglycaemia was corrected. A provisional diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome as a complication of malaria or its treatment was made. He was treated with low molecular weight heparin and nitrates. The patient improved symptomatically. A repeat ECG was normal.
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PMID:Malaria and the heart. 2318 57


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