[Congenital malaria in a hospital in Iquitos, Peru].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the frequency and clinical features of newborns with congenital malaria in the Hospital de Apoyo of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon.


METHODS
Descriptive, prospective and cross-sectional study. From January 2011 to December 2013, 14.017 newborns and their mothers were studied, of whom 52 carriers of gestational malaria were selected while their infants were hospitalized in the Neonatology Unit, and underwent clinical assessment and laboratory studies.


RESULTS
Gestational malaria frequency was 0.4% and a proportion of 9.6% of congenital malaria. Plasmodium vivax was found in 80% of cases of gestational malaria and in 60% of congenital malaria. A case of fetal death with positive thick blood smear for Plasmodium falciparum was observed. The clinical presentation in newborns was fever, hypoactivity, irritability and poor suction.


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of congenital malaria in infants born to mothers with gestational malaria is documented. The clinical picture resembled neonatal sepsis. Early diagnosis of congenital malaria and timely treatment present with good evolution.
Hospital de Apoyo de Iquitos, Iquitos, Perú
Hermann
H
Silva
Hospital de Apoyo de Iquitos, Iquitos, Perú
Bernaldo
B
Laulate
Hospital de Apoyo de Iquitos, Iquitos, Perú
Carlos
C
Coral
D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008288:Malaria / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010568:Peru; D011446:Prospective Studies