TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Severe Malaria A1 - Krishna, Sanjeev A1 - Dondorp, Arjen M. A2 - Hall, Jesse B. A2 - Schmidt, Gregory A. A2 - Kress, John P. Y1 - 2015 N1 - T2 - Principles of Critical Care, 4e AB - Malaria should be excluded as a cause of fever in any febrile patient who has traveled recently to a malaria-endemic area, or who may have been infected by contaminated blood through transfusions, needlestick injury, or other methods of direct infection.Immunity to malaria may be short lived, so that even those who have been brought up in malaria-endemic areas can develop severe disease when they return as travelers.Severe malaria is a medical emergency and ideally should be managed by experienced personnel in an intensive care setting.Although Plasmodium falciparum is the most important cause of serious malaria, P vivax and P knowlesi can also cause severe and fatal infections.Intravenous artesunate should be given as soon as practicable and alternative or additional diagnoses should be excluded.Complications of malaria such as hypoglycemia, lactic acidosis, seizures, organ failure, and secondary infections should be diagnosed early by regular monitoring and managed aggressively.Malaria can be particularly severe in immunocompromised individuals including those who have been splenectomized. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/11/08 UR - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1107721478 ER -