Patient selection: nonimmune patient with falciparum malaria
Outcomes in severe malaria:
(1) cerebral malaria
(2) prolonged hospitalization
(3) death
Risk factors for severe malaria:
(1) age >= 40 years of age, with significant risk if >= 70 years of age (Table 2, page 993).
(2) female gender (for cerebral malaria)
(3) failure to take chemoprophylaxis
where:
• In the discussion an age >= 60 ("old age") was considered a risk factor for severe malaria. In the implementation I will assign 1 point for 40 to 59, 2 points for 60 to 69 and 3 points for >= 70 years of age.
• The discussion on page 994 links comorbid disease to age and the risk of severe disease, but this did not appear to be included in the data analysis. I will add severe comorbid disease as a risk factor in the implementation.
