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Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily

Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) is a rare occurrence with serious consequences for the recipient. In non-endemic areas, the incidence of transmission of malaria by transfusion is very low. We report a clinical case of transfusion-transmitted malaria due to Plasmodium malariae, which happened i...

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Autores principales: Pulvirenti, Jessica, Musso, Maurizio, Fasciana, Teresa, Cascio, Antonio, Tricoli, Maria Rita, Oliveri, Natascia, Favarò, Maria, Diquattro, Orazia, Giammanco, Anna
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8618732/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34828604
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111558
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author Pulvirenti, Jessica
Musso, Maurizio
Fasciana, Teresa
Cascio, Antonio
Tricoli, Maria Rita
Oliveri, Natascia
Favarò, Maria
Diquattro, Orazia
Giammanco, Anna
author_facet Pulvirenti, Jessica
Musso, Maurizio
Fasciana, Teresa
Cascio, Antonio
Tricoli, Maria Rita
Oliveri, Natascia
Favarò, Maria
Diquattro, Orazia
Giammanco, Anna
author_sort Pulvirenti, Jessica
collection PubMed
description Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) is a rare occurrence with serious consequences for the recipient. In non-endemic areas, the incidence of transmission of malaria by transfusion is very low. We report a clinical case of transfusion-transmitted malaria due to Plasmodium malariae, which happened in a patient with acute hemorrhagic gastropathy. Case presentation: In April 2019, a 70-year-old Italian man with recurrent spiking fever for four days was diagnosed with a P. malariae infection, as confirmed using microscopy and real-time PCR. The patient had never been abroad, but about two months before, he had received a red blood cell transfusion for anemia. Regarding the donor, we revealed that they were a missionary priest who often went to tropical regions. Plasmodium spp. PCR was also used on donor blood to confirm the causal link. Discussion and Conclusions: The donations of asymptomatic blood donors who are predominantly “semi-immune” with very low parasitic loads are an issue. The main problem is related to transfusion-transmitted malaria. Our case suggests that P. malariae infections in semi-immune asymptomatic donors are a threat to transfusion safety. Currently, microscopy is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria but has limited sensitivity to detect low levels of parasitemia. Screening using serological tests and molecular tests, combined with the donor’s questionnaire, should be used to reduce the cases of TTM.
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spelling pubmed-86187322021-11-27 Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily Pulvirenti, Jessica Musso, Maurizio Fasciana, Teresa Cascio, Antonio Tricoli, Maria Rita Oliveri, Natascia Favarò, Maria Diquattro, Orazia Giammanco, Anna Healthcare (Basel) Case Report Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) is a rare occurrence with serious consequences for the recipient. In non-endemic areas, the incidence of transmission of malaria by transfusion is very low. We report a clinical case of transfusion-transmitted malaria due to Plasmodium malariae, which happened in a patient with acute hemorrhagic gastropathy. Case presentation: In April 2019, a 70-year-old Italian man with recurrent spiking fever for four days was diagnosed with a P. malariae infection, as confirmed using microscopy and real-time PCR. The patient had never been abroad, but about two months before, he had received a red blood cell transfusion for anemia. Regarding the donor, we revealed that they were a missionary priest who often went to tropical regions. Plasmodium spp. PCR was also used on donor blood to confirm the causal link. Discussion and Conclusions: The donations of asymptomatic blood donors who are predominantly “semi-immune” with very low parasitic loads are an issue. The main problem is related to transfusion-transmitted malaria. Our case suggests that P. malariae infections in semi-immune asymptomatic donors are a threat to transfusion safety. Currently, microscopy is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria but has limited sensitivity to detect low levels of parasitemia. Screening using serological tests and molecular tests, combined with the donor’s questionnaire, should be used to reduce the cases of TTM. MDPI 2021-11-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8618732/ /pubmed/34828604 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111558 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Case Report
Pulvirenti, Jessica
Musso, Maurizio
Fasciana, Teresa
Cascio, Antonio
Tricoli, Maria Rita
Oliveri, Natascia
Favarò, Maria
Diquattro, Orazia
Giammanco, Anna
Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily
title Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily
title_full Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily
title_fullStr Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily
title_full_unstemmed Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily
title_short Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria of Plasmodium malariae in Palermo, Sicily
title_sort transfusion-transmitted malaria of plasmodium malariae in palermo, sicily
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8618732/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34828604
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111558
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