First molecular documented case of a rarely reported parasite: Plasmodium knowlesi infection in Denmark in a traveller returning from Malaysian Borneo

Plasmodium knowlesi has been reported as an emerging infection throughout the Southeast Asian region, especially in the Malaysian state of Sabah, where it accounts for the majority of the malaria cases reported. This is in contrast to Europe, where imported P. knowlesi is a rarely reported infection...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Travel medicine and infectious disease 2023-05, Vol.53, p.102580-102580, Article 102580
Main Authors: Aftab, Huma, Kemp, Michael, Stensvold, Christen R., Nielsen, Henrik V., Jakobsen, Marie M., Porskrog, Anders, Dessau, Ram B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antigens
Case reports
COVID-19
Disease transmission
Erythrocytes
Fever
Hematology
Human diseases
Imported malaria
Infections
Infectious diseases
Laboratories
Malaria
Malaysian borneo
Microscopy
Pandemics
Parasites
Patients
Plasmodium knowlesi
Species identification
Travel medicine
Vector-borne diseases
Zoonotic malaria
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Summary:Plasmodium knowlesi has been reported as an emerging infection throughout the Southeast Asian region, especially in the Malaysian state of Sabah, where it accounts for the majority of the malaria cases reported. This is in contrast to Europe, where imported P. knowlesi is a rarely reported infection. We present a case of P. knowlesi infection in a Danish woman returning from a short trip to Malaysian Borneo. Microscopy of blood smears revealed 0.8% infected erythrocytes, but due to the atypical morphological presentation, a conclusive species identification was made by molecular methods. Plasmodium knowlesi is a potentially fatal infection and taking the increasing travel activity into consideration after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, P. knowlesi should be a differential diagnosis in patients with travel-associated illness returning from highly endemic Southeast Asian areas.
ISSN:1477-8939
1873-0442
DOI:10.1016/j.tmaid.2023.102580