Clinical Presentation and Management of Neonatal Malaria: A Review

The burden of neonatal malaria was thought rare in the past because of presence of protective factors such as maternal antimalarial antibodies, lactoferrin, secretary IgA in human milk and HbF. In endemic areas for malaria, this group (neonates) needs to be more focused for such infection, as due to difficulty in diagnosis it may be representing only the tip of iceberg. In addition there is little information on the use of artimisinin-based combination therapy in neonates. This review aims to discuss all these aspects, focusing mainly on diagnosis and management of neonatal malaria. The final objective is to emphasize the need to establish management guideline of malaria in this neglected age group.