Neonatal transfusion malaria requiring exchange transfusion

Verinderjit S Virdi1, Jatinder S Goraya, Alka Khadwal

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Government Medical College & Hospital, Chandigarh, India.

Transfusion-acquired malaria in a neonate is uncommon and factors such as drug resistance and concomitant G6PD deficiency can cause treatment difficulties. We report a 26-day-old premature infant with chloroquine-resistant malaria who underwent exchange transfusion. The aim was to correct anaemia, decrease parasitaemia and remove G6PD-deficient cells to allow successful use of quinine.