Critically ill malaria patients given albumin in their resuscitation fluids are seen to benefit and it has helped reduce the mortality rates greatly, say scientists. The mosquito-borne infectious disease is widespread in many tropical and subtropical regions. It causes between one and three million deaths annually, mostly among young children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Scientists from the Imperial College in London and experts in Kenya have developed the new technique based on fluid replacement for children ill with malaria. Using intensive care methods usually only available on paediatric intensive care units in developed countries, the researchers showed that fluid depletion was key to the development of severe symptoms among Kenyan children with malaria.

In the past children with severe malaria have been denied additional fluids for fear it might exacerbate brain swelling associated with the disease. The new treatment avoids this problem by including albumin - a molecule that holds water inside blood vessels - in resuscitation fluids given to children. In two preliminary studies, less than five per cent of children who received albumin died - compared to up to 40 per cent who die after receiving conventional treatments.

In a new trial of 88 children, just two per cent of children receiving albumin died, compared to 16 per cent receiving a cheaper synthetic solution. "The observation is that treating very sick children with severe malaria with albumin infusion can reduce the mortality rate by over 80 per cent," said one of the researchers, Kathryn Maitland.

Administration of fluid to children critically ill with malaria is contrary to prevailing practice, and albumin is currently not available in most African hospitals. Maitland said her team was now seeking funding for a larger trial involving over 1,000 children in Ghana, Gambia and Kenya.