A fatal respiratory complication of malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Angie R. López, Ezequias B. Martins, Anielle de Pina-Costa, Ana Beatriz Pacheco-Silva, Marcel T. Ferreira, Roxana F. Mamani, Paula J. T. Detepo, Otilia Lupi, Clarisse S. Bressan, Guilherme A. Calvet, Michele F. B. Silva, Maria de Fátima Ferreira-da-Cruz, Fernanda de Bruycker-Nogueira, Ana Maria B. Filippis, Cláudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro, André Siqueira, Patrícia Brasil
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2023
• Subjects: Malaria; Plasmodium vivax; Respiratory; Fatal complication; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04720-1; https://doaj.org/article/1faac437952f47788ddc995f568d4d8d

Abstract Background Malaria is endemic and represents an important public health issue in Brazil. Knowledge of risk factors for disease progression represents an important step in preventing and controlling malaria-related complications. Reports of severe forms of Plasmodium vivax malaria are now becoming a common place, but respiratory complications are described in less than 3% of global literature on severe vivax malaria. Case presentation A severe respiratory case of imported vivax malaria in a previously healthy 40-year-old woman has been reported. The patient died after the fifth day of treatment with chloroquine and primaquine due to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Conclusions Respiratory symptoms started 48 h after the initiation of anti-malarial drugs, raising the hypothesis that the drugs may have been involved in the genesis of the complication. The concept that vivax malaria is a benign disease that can sometimes result in the development of serious complications must be disseminated. This report highlights, once more, the crucial importance of malaria early diagnosis, a true challenge in non-endemic areas, where health personnel are not familiar with the disease and do not consider its diagnosis promptly.