Congenital Malaria

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Abstract
The legend accompanying the Image in Clinical Medicine of placental malaria (July 11 issue)1 states that the mother's red cells were infected but the baby's were not. My concern is that this is not always the case. Sometimes there are leakages between the mother's circulation and the baby's. I worked in Cameroon for nine years and saw a number of cases of congenital falciparum malaria. The babies present with respiratory distress and the rapid development of jaundice and hepatosplenomegaly. My colleagues and I saw about six such infants, and about half survived with rapid administration of quinine. The mothers were usually febrile, and some of the infants were preterm. I want to be sure that people do not automatically assume that the infants of mothers infected with falciparum malaria are born free of the disease.

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