VA Disability Rating for Malaria (DC 6304)
Diagnostic Code 6304 · 38 CFR §4.88b
What Is It?
Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes. The VA uses the General Rating Formula: active malaria is rated at 100 percent and after the infection clears, residual organ damage to the liver, spleen, or central nervous system is rated under appropriate body system codes. Diagnosis depends on identification of malarial parasites in blood smears or other specific tests such as antigen detection, immunochromatographic tests, or PCR.
Rating Criteria
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 100% | Active malaria with confirmed parasitemia and symptoms during treatment. |
| 0% | Treated and cleared. Residual effects including liver or splenic damage and central nervous system conditions are rated under appropriate body system codes. |
Evidence Needed
Blood smear or rapid diagnostic test confirming malaria. Deployment records to endemic areas. Treatment records. Documentation of relapses. Organ damage assessments.
C&P Exam Tips
Bring deployment records. Document all malaria episodes. Report ongoing symptoms. Have current liver function tests and blood counts. Mention relapsing forms (P. vivax or P. ovale).
How to File
File under DC 6304 with lab confirmation and deployment records. If malaria left organ damage, file for each affected system separately. For veterans with a qualifying period of service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, or in Afghanistan on or after September 19, 2001, 38 CFR 3.317(c) presumes service connection for malaria that became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year of separation from that service, or at a time when standard or accepted treatises indicate that the incubation period commenced during that service — on that route you do not have to prove an in-service event, only the qualifying service and the diagnosis. Outside that service or that window, the evidence this page describes is what carries the claim. 38 CFR 3.317(d) pairs malaria with a column B list that runs from hematologic manifestations such as anemia after falciparum malaria and splenic rupture after vivax malaria to immune-complex glomerulonephritis, renal disease especially nephrotic syndrome, neurologic and neuropsychiatric disease, ophthalmologic manifestations, demyelinating polyneuropathy and Guillain-Barre syndrome, none of them with a time period attached, and where a veteran presumed service connected under paragraph (c) is diagnosed with one of them at any time, VA will request a medical opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not that the infection caused it.
Common Mistakes
Common mistakes include not documenting each relapse separately, failing to claim residual organ damage, not preserving original lab results, and overlooking chronic anemia or liver dysfunction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can malaria come back years after service?
Yes. Certain species can lie dormant in the liver for months or years before reactivating.
What happens to my rating when malaria clears?
The 100 percent rating ends. Lasting organ damage is rated separately under body system codes.