QUESTION

Ten years ago, at the age of 21, I contracted both forms of malaria. I was severely unwell with falciparum, losing around 15kgs over the course of a week, and I suffered one relapse. I had ongoing vivax for 2 and a half years. I would like to know if there are any known long term complications, or possible health problems I may encounter in the future as a result of having had malaria.

ANSWER

There is a discussion going on about the question of possible long-term consequences of malaria infection based on an earlier question in this forum. You can follow the discussion here: Long Term Health Effects of Malaria When Young.

In summary, there is little evidence of any long term effects on health from having single or relatively few malaria infections; however, this may partly be through lack of concerted research on this topic. Most research looks at the impact of chronic or very frequent malaria infections, such as that experienced by young children living in holo-endemic areas (i.e. sub-Saharan Africa).