A Case of Plasmodium vivax Infection Diagnosed after Treatment of Imported Falciparum Malaria / 대한임상병리학회지

ABSTRACT

In South Korea, most imported malaria has been caused by Plasmodium falciparum and little mixed infection has been reported which is frequently observed in other countries. We report a case of mixed malarial infection with P. falciparum/P. vivax. It was diagnosed by using three kinds of dipstick tests (two malarial antibody tests and one pLDH immunocapture assay), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and a peripheral blood smear in a nineteen-year-old woman who had traveled to Bangladesh. The patient was diagnosed with P. falciparum on the first-visit blood sample and P. vivax with the second-visit sample by using all three kinds of dipstick tests. Peripheral blood smears and a PCR of the patient's blood also showed P. falciparum and P. vivax parasites and DNA bands of two species of malaria. In conclusion, an imported malaria case should be accurately diagnosed using the malarial antibody detection kit, pLDH immunocapture assay, and PCR in addition to the peripheral blood smear for the possibility of mixed infection with malaria.