MALARIA AS A CAUSE OF DIARRHEA - A REVIEW

Malaria causes a number of clinical complications, including diarrhoea . There are relatively few reports on the frequency of diarrhoea in ma laria, but diarrhoea attributable to malaria is thought to be more com mon among children and nonimmune adults with hyperparasitaemia. The re ported incidence of diarrhoea during malaria varies from 5 to 38 %. Th e pathological changes in patients infected with malaria are very comp lex and involve many organs, including the small bowel. However, the c auses of gastrointestinal manifestations during malaria are still not clear, and the mechanism of diarrhoea during malaria is likely to be m ultifactorial. Massive gastrointestinal bleedings with multiple foci o f mucosal haemorrhage have also been observed. Tumor necrosis factor h as been implicated in malaria and free oxygen radicals which can cause tissue injury in the liver, pancreas and intestine are enhanced durin g malaria infection; this can result in various disorders of the diges tive system including diarrhoea and intestinal bleeding. Prostaglandin s and cyclic AMP may also be involved in the development of diarrhoea in malaria.