Congenital Malaria in a Febrile Infant Born to an Immigrant Mother With No Travel During Pregnancy.

Congenital malaria is a condition that can be acquired during pregnancy or perinatally at the time of delivery by transplacental transmission of parasitized maternal erythrocytes. Because of its rare incidence in the United States, it is most frequently missed as a differential diagnosis by physicians when evaluating a febrile infant born to an immigrant mother. Timely diagnosis for physicians is also a challenge when there is no recent history of travel. Pediatric emergency department physicians hence must obtain a thorough history and elicit any exposure to malaria in the past when evaluating a febrile infant. We report a case of an 18-day male infant with congenital malaria and no maternal history of travel and febrile illnesses during pregnancy.