Plasmodium vivax infections have been associated with mild symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, chills, and musculoskeletal pain, in particular paroxysms. Recently, however, severe complications, including renal failure, jaundice, acute respiratory distress syndrome, cerebral malaria, seizures, anaemia, hyperparasitaemia, thrombocytopenia, pulmonary edema, splenic rupture and death, have been reported in exclusive association with P. vivax [2, 3] .