Malaria retinopathy and cerebellitis in a 9-year-old boy in the United States

Malarial retinopathy is characterized by retinal whitening, vessel change, and hemorrhages usually associated with a white center. We present the case of a 9-year-old boy who presented with a systemic Plasmodium falciparum infection, hemorrhagic cerebellitis and malarial retinopathy characterized by "fire flare" hemorrhages (scleral icterus with subconjunctival hemorrhages), Roth spot like hemorrhages, and subhyaloid hemorrhage. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of hemorrhagic cerebellitis secondary to P. falciparum infection in the United States.