Malaria and the skin (For professionals)

• Malaria is a common infection caused by a unicellular organism called a Protist. It is transmitted by a mosquito called Anopheles.
• After a period of between two weeks and several months (occasionally years) spent in the liver, the malaria parasites multiply within red blood cells, causing symptoms that appear cyclically.
• Symptoms include fever, and headache. In severe cases the disease worsens leading to hallucinations, coma, and death.
• Treatment is readily available but the best is prevention of insect bites in endemic areas as well as taking antimalarial prophylaxis.

• Skin involvement is rare and includes:

1. jaundice
2. petechiae
3. vasculitis
4. purpura and purpura fulminans
5. gangrene

Bibliography

Purpura fulminans in a patient with malaria. Keri JE, Thomas K, Berman B, Falabella A. Eur J Dermatol. 2000 Dec;10(8):617-9.

Wikipedia