Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in a Patient with Cerebral Malaria

To the Editor: Cerebral malaria is seen mainly in children and nonimmune patients in African countries where infection with Plasmodium falciparum is endemic. Common symptoms are epileptic seizures, confusion, agitation, disorientation, and coma. Subarachnoid hemorrhage due to plasmodium infection is very rare,1 but its incidence may be underestimated. We describe a patient with cerebral malaria who presented with a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Five days after returning from a trip to Kenya, a 54-year-old woman became progressively confused. Because she had multiple allergies, she had not received antimalarial medication prophylactically. On examination in the emergency room, she was obtunded and afebrile and . . .