Some cases of congenital malaria in baptist medical centre, Eku, Delta state, Nigeria

The occurrence of malaria fever in the newborn has always been thought to be rare. This belief has probably led to the low level of diagnosing this potentially grave disease and its few reports in Nigeria. We, therefore, decided to report these three cases that were diagnosed and treated at the Baptist Medical Centre, a Missionary Hospital located in Eku, Delta State, Nigeria. All the three cases were diagnosed in the month of November 2004, and all presented with fever, and one had feeding problems. Peripheral parasiteamia was present in the three babies and all of them were term babies. The children were treated with quinine and they responded well on the quinine medication. Thus, congenital malaria is a recognizable disease entity. Clinicians should therefore develop a high sense of suspicion for this disease and properly investigate babies presenting with fever.