The Phenomenon of the ‘Starry Sky’ on Blood:Lesson Learned From Severe Malaria Falciparum

Severe malaria occurs when previously uncomplicated malaria infections are then turn to be full blown and tangled by serious, single or multi-organ failures or abnormalities in the patient's blood or metabolism. Clinical deterioration can happen abruptly and unnoticed, due to the masking of other prominent clinical condition like hyperthermia. Making the correct diagnosis as soon as possible is pivotal before administering antimalarial therapy. Diagnosis is made by examining the thick and thin blood films in an attempt to find malaria parasites in the blood sample.The “Starry Sky” appearance is a microscopic feature of severe malaria infection and its exclusively found only in thick blood film. The aim of this minireview is to discuss about theclinical background of“Starry Sky”appearance found in thick blood smear of severe malaria and its brief review combined with our experience in the Deptartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine Universitas Kristen Indonesia, Jakarta-Indonesia, inhandled blood test from a vulnerable patient with severe malaria and how we pass on the lessons from that story to our students as part of health communication in community based Parasitology. By inserting this story to our lesson materials, we hope can build awareness among our students as future health practitioners and also to the publicthey serveas well as all stake holders; this snow ball action are currently and continously requiredto be done

Performance of parallel test in detecting malaria infection for returnees from malaria endemic area / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To evaluate the performance of parallel test in detecting malaria infection for returned person from malaria endemic area.Methods The blood samples of 484 returnees from malaria endemic area were analyzed and detected by thick blood smear,rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and nest PCR in four companies involving the African labor dispatching.Results The sensitivi ty of thick blood smear and RDT was 0.628 and 0.744 respectively,which of the parallel test was 0.930.On the other hand,the area under the curve (AUC) of parallel test was 0.930 (95％CI:0.895-0.986),which was higher than thick blood smear[0.814 (95％CI:0.724-0.904)]and RDT[0.847 (95％CI:0.769-0.926)].Conclusion Thick blood smear and RDT,which consist of parallel test,could improve the detection sensitivity and accuracy for returnees from malaria epidemical area effectively.This approach is worthy of popularization and application.

Detección de casos submicroscópicos de Plasmodium spp, utilizando técnicas clásicas y moleculares en pacientes gestantes de Córdoba, Colombia / Detection of submicroscopic infection with Plasmodium spp, using classical and molecular techniques in pregnant patients from Córdoba, Colombia

Introducción: la malaria gestacional afecta a las madres y al embrión o feto en desarrollo; requiere diagnóstico rápido y tratamiento oportuno y efectivo para evitar las complicaciones y muertes. Objetivo: comparar las técnicas de gota gruesa, PCR anidada y PCR en tiempo real (qRT-PCR), para diagnosticar infecciones submicroscópicas por Plasmodium falciparum y P. vivax. Metodología: se estudiaron 21 mujeres con manifestaciones clínicas de malaria, incluyendo gestantes y no gestantes, en Puerto Libertador, Córdoba, Colombia; de todas se obtuvieron muestras de sangre periférica y, en las gestantes, de placenta y cordón umbilical. Se extrajo el ADN y se lo amplificó por PCR anidada y cuantitativa (qRT-PCR). Para el análisis estadístico se usaron los programas Graphpad PRISM y EPIDAT. Resultados: las tres técnicas diagnosticaron satisfactoriamente la presencia de P. falciparum y P. vivax en sangre periférica, cordón y placenta. Las pruebas moleculares presentaron sensibilidad y especificidad del 100%; dos casos de infección por P. falciparum no identificados por gota gruesa (submicroscópicos) se diagnosticaron con las dos técnicas de PCR. Conclusión: la qRT-PCR es ventajosa en comparación con la PCR anidada porque su estandarización es más corta, requiere menos infraestructura y permite cuantificar el ADN.

Introduction: Gestational malaria affects both the mother and the development of her embryo or fetus. Rapid diagnosis and timely and effective treatment are required to prevent complications and deaths. Objective: To compare thick blood smear with nested PCR and real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) for the diagnosis of submicroscopic infections with Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. Methodology: 21 women with clinical manifestations of malaria, including both pregnant and non-pregnant, were studied in Puerto Libertador, Córdoba, Colombia. Peripheral blood specimens were obtained from all of them; umbilical cord and placenta blood specimens were taken in the pregnant ones. DNA was extracted and amplified for nested PCR or qRT-PCR. Statistical analysis was done using Graphpad PRISM and EPIDAT softwares. Results: The three techniques were satisfactory for the detection of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax in peripheral blood and in the umbilical cord and placenta specimens. Molecular tests were 100% sensitive and specific. Two submicroscopic cases of P. falciparum infection were detected with the two PCR techniques. Conclusion: qRT-PCR is advantageous over nested PCR because its standardization is shorter, it requires lesser infrastructure and it allows the quantification of DNA.

Síndrome de dificultad respiratoria aguda del adulto por Plasmodium vivax / Adult acute respiratory distress syndrome by Plasmodium vivax

El síndrome de dificultad respiratoria aguda del adulto en pacientes con malaria está asociado a infección por Plasmodium falciparum, ocasionalmente manifestado en pacientes infectados por Plasmodium vivax, por lo que han sido pocos los casos reportados en la literatura (1). Reportamos el caso de un paciente de 43 años quien estuvo en área endémica y desarrolló síndrome de dificultad respiratoria aguda del adulto (SDRA) por Plasmodium vivax. El diagnóstico fue realizado por métodos microscópicos. Concluimos que el SDRA asociado a Plasmodium vivax puededesarrollarse antes de iniciar terapia antimalárica, condición con una alta morbimortalidad. (Acta Med Colomb 2014; 39: 211-215).

The adult acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with malaria is associated with Plasmodium falciparum infection, and only occasionally manifested in patients infected with Plasmodium vivax, so few cases have been reported in the literature. 1 The case of a 43 year old patient who was in an endemic area and developed acute adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) by Plasmodium vivax is reported. The diagnosis was made by microscopic methods. It was concluded that ARDS associated with Plasmodium vivax can develop before starting antimalarial therapy, a condition with high morbidity and mortality. (Acta Med Colomb 2014; 39: 211-215).