Rising incidence of cerebral malaria in Lagos, Nigeria: a postmoterm study

One hundred and forty seven cases of acute malaria were diagnosed at autopsy between 1988 and 1991 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). In 67 (46.5%) cases death was attributed to cerebral malaria (CM). There was a gradual increase in the incidence of CM during the period under review. Both sexes were affected equally but more children than adults succumbed. The highest death rate was recorded in the age group 1-5 years with a peak in the 2nd and 3rd year. There were seven adults out of which one was intenerant white lady. Only one of the six adult Nigerians had travelled outside Africa and stayed away for about four years. The commonest presenting symptoms were: fever only, fever with convulsions and/or coma and fever with gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea. The majority of the adults were comatose (five out of seven) without fever on admission. A review of the English literature on the diagnosis, pathogenesis and management of CM is also presented. The possible reasons of the rising incidence of CM in a holoendemic region such as Nigeria are discussed.