Placental Schistosoma haematobium infection in a German returnee from Malawi

Schistosomiasis is a widespread helminthic infection which sometimes may affect travelers to endemic areas. We report on a case of urogenital and placental schistosomiasis in a 28-year-old German woman who had been exposed to schistosomiasis in Lake Malawi one year earlier. She experienced painless...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection 2014-12, Vol.42 (6), p.1061-1064
Main Authors: Schleenvoigt, B. T., Gajda, M., Baier, M., Groten, T., Oppel-Heuchel, H., Grimm, M. O., Pfister, W., Richter, J., Pletz, M. W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Animals
Body weight
Case Report
Family Medicine
Female
General Practice
Germany
Histopathology
Humans
Infectious Diseases
Internal Medicine
Malawi
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Placenta Diseases - parasitology
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic - parasitology
Schistosoma haematobium - isolation & purification
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis haematobia - diagnosis
Travel
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Summary:Schistosomiasis is a widespread helminthic infection which sometimes may affect travelers to endemic areas. We report on a case of urogenital and placental schistosomiasis in a 28-year-old German woman who had been exposed to schistosomiasis in Lake Malawi one year earlier. She experienced painless macrohaematuria in her 21st week of pregnancy. Cystoscopy revealed vesical lesions typical for urogenital schistosomiasis. Histopathology confirmed ova of Schistosoma ( S .) haematobium . The patient was treated with praziquantel 40 mg/kg/body weight/day for 3 days. After 285 days of gestation and 18 weeks post treatment, the patient delivered a healthy girl. Histopathology of placenta revealed eggs of S. haematobium in placental stroma. The infant proved negative for anti- Schistosoma spp. antibodies at the age of 15 months. This is the first report on placental schistosomiasis since 1980 and the first case occurring in a traveler.
ISSN:0300-8126
1439-0973
DOI:10.1007/s15010-014-0684-3