Malaria: Hyperpyrexia

on 8.10.08 with 0 comments



Hyperpyrexia should be treated by cooling the patient and administering paracetamol. It is assumed that malaria fever is caused when lysis of the red blood cells releases malaria pigment (haemozoin) which is absorbed by the reticulo-endothelial system. This in turn releases endogenous pyrogens (cytokine network). The concentration of tumour necrosis factor in the peripheral blood correlates with the severity of the malaria. In cases of repeated malaria attacks the liver, spleen and bone marrow are stained black by the enormous amounts of haemozoin.

Category: Medicine Notes

POST COMMENT

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post
Older Post
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)