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Malaria caused by the mosquito-borne protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum is the most important parasitic disease of man, infecting between 300 and 400 million people annually, and causing an estimated 1.1 million deaths in sub- Saharan Africa alone. Most of these deaths are in children, many of whom succumb to the severe “cerebral” form of the disease, which has a mortality of 15-20%. Thus falciparum malaria is the commonest and potentially the most serious parasitic infection of the human central nervous system (CNS), and cerebral malaria is arguably the most common non-traumatic encephalopathy worldwide.

Type

Chapter

Book title

Emerging Neurological Infections

Publication Date

01/01/2005

Pages

145 - 188