Malaria’s Lasting Impact: How the Disease Affects Children’s Brains Long-Term

Children who survive severe malaria may face long-term cognitive impairment and decreased academic achievement for years after infection, according to a study published late last week in JAMA.

In the analysis, researchers assessed neurocognitive and academic outcomes among nearly 900 children in Uganda who had experienced severe malaria (672 children) in early childhood and 217 uninfected controls.

Participants were evaluated for an average of about eight years, and up to 15 years, after their initial illness. The mean age of the participants was 11 years.

The findings show that children with a history of cerebral malaria or severe malarial anemia, two of the most severe forms of malaria, had lower scores in overall cognition and math than children who had not had malaria.

Attention and reading scores did not differ significantly between the two groups, and cognitive and academic scores were not significantly different between children with other forms of severe malaria and children in the control group.

Cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia are the most common forms of malaria. Previous research has shown that both cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia are associated with cognitive impairment up to two years after initial illness.

“Cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia, which affect more than a million children every year, are not only causes of death in children, but also associated with very long-term costs in terms of a child’s thinking and their academic achievement,” senior author Chandy John, MD, of Indiana University, said in a university news release.

“These costs, particularly in the area of math skills, can affect their ability to do well in school, to go to college and to get a good job,” Chandy John added.