Malaria Deaths Due to Brain Swelling

Doctors have finally discovered the cause of death in cerebral malaria. The New York Times explains that 15 to 25 percent of African children contract cerebral malaria, which can lead to coma and death. Survivors of the disease are often deaf, blind, or left with learning disabilities.  

Dr. Terrie Taylor, from Michigan State University, and her colleagues have been studying children with cerebral malaria at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. The study was published this week in the "New England Journal of Medicine," reports NPR.

Dr. Taylor has dedicated herself to finding out why some children die from cerebral malaria, while others survive and recover. She has been working with the children in Malawi since 1986, states NPR. 

With cerebral malaria, the parasite is stuck in the capillaries of the brain, causing the child to have a seizure. Eventually, the child goes into coma and will possibly die. 

Dr. Taylor says that a child suffers from cerebral malaria for only two or three days. She adds, "These bright, happy children who are suddenly felled by a disease that quickly renders them unconscious. And quickly kills them. It's a catastrophe."  

In order to find the cause, Dr. Taylor realized she needed to look inside the brain of a child with cerebral malaria, which meant that she needed an MRI machine. According to NPR, the doctor and her colleagues went to General Electric and convinced the company to donate an MRI machine.  

They scanned over 168 children with the disease, reports the New York Times. The study revealed that the children died of brain swelling, which cut off their ability to breathe. 

Dr. Taylor explains, "What's killing these kids is that they stop breathing, because the respiratory center in the brain stem is compressed by the swelling. It's like flipping a light switch: Boom! They just stop breathing. And the child dies in 15 or 20 minutes without ventilation."  

Dr. Taylor believes ventilators will probably help save the children, reports the New York Times. Apparently, the brain is only swollen for a few days and then it swells back down to its normal size. If the doctors can help the child maintain their breathing, the child might be saved.  

NPR has asked Dr. Chandy John, a pediatrician at the University of Minnesota, to share his thoughts on the study. Dr. John states, "Put the child on a ventilator. Then, during a period when brain swelling might affect the child's ability to breath, you could breath for them."