Malaria Transmission Via Needle Stick Injury: A Case Report and Systematic Review of the Literature

We present the case of an 11-year-old boy with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria, whose attending doctor sustained a needle stick injury (NSI) during phlebotomy. We also report the findings of a systematic literature review of papers describing malaria transmission to healthcare professionals via sharps injuries or blood spillage. In total, we identified 22 case reports published in peer-reviewed journals over the last 55 years, comprising 15 publications where malaria was transmitted via an NSI, 1 publication in which the infection was transmitted via a broken glass test tube, and 6 where the transmission appears to have occurred via spillage of malaria-infested blood onto the hands of a healthcare professional alone. In addition, we discuss potential management options for NSIs in the context of malaria.