Intracerebral bleed, right haemiparesis and seizures: An atypical presentation of vivax malaria

Abstract

Falciparum malaria is notoriously known to produce life-threatening complications. Despite growing reports of chloroquine resistance and severe disease, vivax malaria continues to be viewed as a benign disease. We report a rare case of a 47-year-old healthy man from a malaria-endemic region, presenting with intracerebral bleed, right haemiparesis, aphasia and seizures following vivax malaria. This was successfully managed conservatively, without any neurosurgical intervention, with combination therapy of intravenous artesunate, oral hydroxychloquine and primaquine. In a country where Plasmodium vivax is responsible for majority of cases of malaria, it is high time the national malaria control programmes focus on the elimination of P. vivax in addition to its more dangerous counterpart, P. falciparum. Copyright 2014 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.