An unusual finding in a peripheral blood smear of Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
An attack of hyperpyrexia, in a young Senegalese male resident in Rome on his return from a brief trip to Senegal, was recognized as Plasmodium falciparum malaria. In a Giemsa peripheral blood smear a merozoite cluster and haemozoin pigment were observed into a monocyte, as a phagocytosis outcome. This finding, unexpected in view of the relatively moderate severity of the disease, was likely to be expression of good immune response against the blood stages of P. falciparum.
Pica
R
R
UOD Medicina di Laboratorio I, Azienda Ospedaliera San Giovanni-Addolorata, Roma, Italy. erre.pica@virgilio.it
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009000:Monocytes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000469:parasitology*; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000469:parasitology*; D010587:Phagocytosis; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012675:Senegal / Q000208:ethnology
D006420:Hemeproteins; C020753:hemozoin