Here we describe the case of a 4-mo-old female who died suddenly without any apparent cause that was initially mistaken as a case of sudden infant death syn - drome. Histologic observation of brain sections revealed blue-black bodies in erythrocytes of the blood vessels, suggestive of specific stages of the hematic schizogonic cycle. Further examinations revealed hemozoin and hemosiderin deposits in the parenchyma of all organs, leading to the diagnosis of malaria by Plasmodium falci - parum (P. falciparum). The death occurred in Italy, the native country of the infant, two weeks after a Christ- mas holiday spent in Pakistan, the parents’ birthplace, which has a high malarial endemicity. As this case demonstrates, the diagnosis of malaria should always be considered as a differential diagnosis in subjects, including infants, that die unexpectedly after returning from P. falciparum endemic areas
Unsuspected imported malaria in a case of sudden infant death / T. Pusiol, A.M. Lavezzi, F. Radice, G. Alfonsi, L. Matturri. - In: WORLD JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES. - ISSN 2220-3176. - 4:2(2014 May 25), pp. 5-8. [10.5495/wjcid.v4.i2.5]
Unsuspected imported malaria in a case of sudden infant death
A.M. LavezziSecondo
;F. Radice;G. AlfonsiPenultimo
;L. MatturriUltimo
2014
Abstract
Here we describe the case of a 4-mo-old female who died suddenly without any apparent cause that was initially mistaken as a case of sudden infant death syn - drome. Histologic observation of brain sections revealed blue-black bodies in erythrocytes of the blood vessels, suggestive of specific stages of the hematic schizogonic cycle. Further examinations revealed hemozoin and hemosiderin deposits in the parenchyma of all organs, leading to the diagnosis of malaria by Plasmodium falci - parum (P. falciparum). The death occurred in Italy, the native country of the infant, two weeks after a Christ- mas holiday spent in Pakistan, the parents’ birthplace, which has a high malarial endemicity. As this case demonstrates, the diagnosis of malaria should always be considered as a differential diagnosis in subjects, including infants, that die unexpectedly after returning from P. falciparum endemic areasFile | Dimensione | Formato | |
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