A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria
Abstract Background Sri Lanka has maintained a rigorous programme to prevent the re-establishment of malaria ever since the disease was eliminated in October 2012. It includes efforts to sustain case surveillance to ensure early diagnosis and management of malaria. Yet, in April of 2023 the death oc...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ae8ae8bec4f844f3b5ed6f00e1557330 2023-10-01T03:54:24+02:00 A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria Shilanthi Seneviratne Deepika Fernando Pubudu Chulasiri Kumudu Gunasekera Nethmini Thenuwara Champa Aluthweera Anula Wijesundara Rohini Fernandopulle Kamini Mendis Rajitha Wickremasinghe 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 https://doaj.org/article/ae8ae8bec4f844f3b5ed6f00e1557330 EN eng BMC https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/ae8ae8bec4f844f3b5ed6f00e1557330 Malaria Journal, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2023) Imported malaria Death Delayed diagnosis Case fatality Prevention of re-establishment Travel health Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 2023-09-03T00:54:53Z Abstract Background Sri Lanka has maintained a rigorous programme to prevent the re-establishment of malaria ever since the disease was eliminated in October 2012. It includes efforts to sustain case surveillance to ensure early diagnosis and management of malaria. Yet, in April of 2023 the death occurred of an individual with imported malaria. Case presentation The deceased was a 37-year-old Sri Lankan male who returned to Sri Lanka on the 10th of April after a business trip to several countries including Tanzania. He was febrile on arrival and consulted three Allopathic Medical Practitioners in succession in his home town in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, over a period of 5 days starting from the very day that he arrived in the country. Malaria was not tested for at any of these consultations and his clinical condition deteriorated. On the evening of 14th of April he was admitted to the medical intensive care unit of a major private hospital in the capital city of Colombo with multiple organ failure. There, on a request by the treating physician blood was tested for malaria and reported early the next morning as Plasmodium falciparum malaria with a high parasitaemia (> 10%). The patient died shortly after on the 15th of April before any anti-malarial medication was administered. The deceased had been a frequent business traveller to Africa, but with no past history of malaria. He had not taken chemoprophylaxis for malaria on this or previous travels to Africa. Discussion The patient’s P. falciparum infection progressed rapidly over 5 days of arriving in Sri Lanka leading to severe malaria without being diagnosed, despite him seeking healthcare from three different Medical Practitioners. Finally, a diagnosis of malaria was made on admission to an intensive care unit; the patient died before anti-malarial medicines were administered. Conclusions This first death due to severe P. falciparum malaria reported in Sri Lanka after elimination of the disease was due to the delay in diagnosing malaria. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Colombo ENVELOPE(-144.733,-144.733,-76.517,-76.517) Traveller ENVELOPE(-48.533,-48.533,61.133,61.133) Malaria Journal 22 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Imported malaria Death Delayed diagnosis Case fatality Prevention of re-establishment Travel health Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
spellingShingle |
Imported malaria Death Delayed diagnosis Case fatality Prevention of re-establishment Travel health Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Shilanthi Seneviratne Deepika Fernando Pubudu Chulasiri Kumudu Gunasekera Nethmini Thenuwara Champa Aluthweera Anula Wijesundara Rohini Fernandopulle Kamini Mendis Rajitha Wickremasinghe A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
topic_facet |
Imported malaria Death Delayed diagnosis Case fatality Prevention of re-establishment Travel health Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background Sri Lanka has maintained a rigorous programme to prevent the re-establishment of malaria ever since the disease was eliminated in October 2012. It includes efforts to sustain case surveillance to ensure early diagnosis and management of malaria. Yet, in April of 2023 the death occurred of an individual with imported malaria. Case presentation The deceased was a 37-year-old Sri Lankan male who returned to Sri Lanka on the 10th of April after a business trip to several countries including Tanzania. He was febrile on arrival and consulted three Allopathic Medical Practitioners in succession in his home town in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, over a period of 5 days starting from the very day that he arrived in the country. Malaria was not tested for at any of these consultations and his clinical condition deteriorated. On the evening of 14th of April he was admitted to the medical intensive care unit of a major private hospital in the capital city of Colombo with multiple organ failure. There, on a request by the treating physician blood was tested for malaria and reported early the next morning as Plasmodium falciparum malaria with a high parasitaemia (> 10%). The patient died shortly after on the 15th of April before any anti-malarial medication was administered. The deceased had been a frequent business traveller to Africa, but with no past history of malaria. He had not taken chemoprophylaxis for malaria on this or previous travels to Africa. Discussion The patient’s P. falciparum infection progressed rapidly over 5 days of arriving in Sri Lanka leading to severe malaria without being diagnosed, despite him seeking healthcare from three different Medical Practitioners. Finally, a diagnosis of malaria was made on admission to an intensive care unit; the patient died before anti-malarial medicines were administered. Conclusions This first death due to severe P. falciparum malaria reported in Sri Lanka after elimination of the disease was due to the delay in diagnosing malaria. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shilanthi Seneviratne Deepika Fernando Pubudu Chulasiri Kumudu Gunasekera Nethmini Thenuwara Champa Aluthweera Anula Wijesundara Rohini Fernandopulle Kamini Mendis Rajitha Wickremasinghe |
author_facet |
Shilanthi Seneviratne Deepika Fernando Pubudu Chulasiri Kumudu Gunasekera Nethmini Thenuwara Champa Aluthweera Anula Wijesundara Rohini Fernandopulle Kamini Mendis Rajitha Wickremasinghe |
author_sort |
Shilanthi Seneviratne |
title |
A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
title_short |
A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
title_full |
A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
title_fullStr |
A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
title_full_unstemmed |
A malaria death due to an imported Plasmodium falciparum infection in Sri Lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
title_sort |
malaria death due to an imported plasmodium falciparum infection in sri lanka during the prevention of re-establishment phase of malaria |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 https://doaj.org/article/ae8ae8bec4f844f3b5ed6f00e1557330 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-144.733,-144.733,-76.517,-76.517) ENVELOPE(-48.533,-48.533,61.133,61.133) |
geographic |
Arctic Colombo Traveller |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Colombo Traveller |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/ae8ae8bec4f844f3b5ed6f00e1557330 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04681-5 |
container_title |
Malaria Journal |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1778521983270518784 |