Placental Malaria

Figure 1. A 40-year-old Nigerian woman with a history of malaria was admitted at 36 weeks of pregnancy after 4 days of intermittent fever, with temperatures up to 40°C (104°F), and lower abdominal pain. The base-line fetal heart rate was 108 beats per minute, with late decelerations. An emergency cesarean section was performed, and a healthy-appearing baby boy was born, with Apgar scores of 6 at one minute and 9 at five minutes. Maternal malaria due to a mixed infection with Plasmodium falciparum and P. malariae was diagnosed on the basis of a peripheral-blood smear. The mother was treated successfully . . .