By the time of rounds the next day....

Moses is feeling better and is afebrile. He has no shortness of breath and walks without dificulty Blood smear shows 3+ malaria parasites. Full hemogram reveals: Hbg = 4.5 gm% Platelets = 75,000/cumm WBC = 1,900/cumm

Moses obviously has malaria, but what about his headache how serious can it get?

• Initial symptoms of malaria are non-specific and flu-like.
• Headache, myalgia, vague abdominal pain, malaise, fever.
• Serious complications are rare in non-falciparum malaria.
• Malaria caused by P. falciparum can
• Produce cerebral malaria, characterized by unarousable coma.
• Give rise to serious anemia (Hbg <5 gm%),
• Cause renal failure, pulmonary edema, hypoglycemia, DIC and septic shock.

Are the changes in the hemogram explainable on the basis of malaria?