Occult Plasmodium vivax infection diagnosed by a polymerase chain reaction-based detection system: a case report.
After a trip to Zambia, a previously healthy adult traveler presented with a prolonged illness characterized by low-grade fevers and fatigue. Although malaria smears and antibody tests results for Plasmodium species were negative, a diagnosis of malaria was ultimately determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and species-specific nucleic acid hybridization techniques. The patient was successfully treated and cured. Clinical use of PCR technology may facilitate the identification of cases of smear-negative malaria, which up to the present time, have been difficult to diagnose.
Blossom
David B
DB
Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA. david_blossom@hotmail.com
King
Charles H
CH
Armitage
Keith B
KB
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000627:therapeutic use; D053626:Atovaquone; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015822:Eye Infections, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D009285:Naphthoquinones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D002727:Proguanil / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014195:Travel; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015024:Zambia
D000962:Antimalarials; D009285:Naphthoquinones; D002727:Proguanil; D053626:Atovaquone