Fever in patients with mixed-species malaria.
Published
Journal Article
BACKGROUND: Clinical symptoms of mixed-species malaria infections have been variously reported as both less severe and more severe than those of single-species infections. METHODS: Oral temperatures were taken from and blood slides were prepared for 2308 adults who presented at outpatient malaria clinics in Tak Province (Thailand) during May-August 1998, May-July 1999, and May-June 2001 with malaria infections diagnosed by 2 expert research microscopists, each of whom was blinded to the other's reports. RESULTS: In each year, temperatures of patients with mixed Plasmodium vivax-Plasmodium falciparum infections were higher than temperatures of patients with P. vivax or P. falciparum infections. In every mixed-species case, P. falciparum parasitemia was higher than P. vivax parasitemia, but patient temperature was not correlated with the parasitemia of either species or with the total parasitemia. CONCLUSIONS: Among adults who self-report to malaria clinics in western Thailand, patients with mixed P. vivax-P. falciparum infections have higher fevers than patients with single-species infections, a distinction that cannot be attributed to differences in parasitemia. This observation warrants more detailed investigations, spanning wider ranges of ages and transmission environments.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- McKenzie, FE; Smith, DL; O'Meara, WP; Forney, JR; Magill, AJ; Permpanich, B; Erhart, LM; Sirichaisinthop, J; Wongsrichanalai, C; Gasser, RA
Published Date
- June 15, 2006
Published In
- Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Volume / Issue
- 42 / 12
Start / End Page
- 1713 - 1718
PubMed ID
- 16705577
Pubmed Central ID
- 16705577
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1537-6591
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1086/504330
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States