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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Health and Clinical Neuroscience
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1432441
This article is part of the Research Topic UN World Malaria Day: A Neuroscience Perspective View all articles

Exploring the hidden mental health consequences of malaria beyond the fever

Provisionally accepted
Prerana Nandish Prerana Nandish 1,2Srinivasa BM Srinivasa BM 1,2*Sujith Nath Sujith Nath 1,2Shankar G Shankar G 1,2Praveen K. Tripathi Praveen K. Tripathi 1,2Himani Kashyap Himani Kashyap 3Animesh Jain Animesh Jain 4Vani HC Vani HC 1,2
  • 1 Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India
  • 2 National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR), New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi, India
  • 3 National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, Karnataka, India
  • 4 Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Malaria morbidity has various presentations. The focus now shifts to uncommon signs and symptoms of malaria infection such as cognitive impairment to address the morbidity when the mortality declines. About 50% of children admitted to hospitals due to malaria experience neurological complications due to factors like low blood sugar, inflammation, elevated pressure, decreased oxygen levels, and excitotoxicity. Malaria during pregnancy negatively impacts children's cognitive, behavioral, and executive function leading to neurodevelopmental delay due to increased susceptibility which can significantly affect maternal and child health, leading to higher rates of underestimated factors like anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Despite having the world's second-largest tribal population, India's indigenous and tribal communities and their mental health are underdeveloped, and Western psychological tools are not universally applicable, necessitating the development of tailored tools to investigate malaria's link to psychological distress and evaluate intervention's effectiveness. This paper has illuminated the hidden mental health consequences of malaria infection, emphasizing the prevalence, nature, and implications of psychological distress among affected individuals. The findings underscore the importance of recognizing and addressing these psychological consequences in the holistic management and prevention of malaria and its mental health consequences.

    Keywords: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, investigation, methodology, project administration, Software, supervision

    Received: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 25 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nandish, BM, Nath, G, Tripathi, Kashyap, Jain and HC. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Srinivasa BM, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.