Korean Journal of Infectious Diseases  1999;31(1):41-45

A Case of Transfusion Induced Malaria Presenting as a Fever of Unknown Origin.

In Kyong JEONG 1 ; Myoung Don OH ; Jong Yil CHAI ; Hyeong Woo LEE ; Won Ja LEE ; Jong Su LEE ; Dong Hee SOE ; Kang Won CHOE

Affiliations

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Keywords

Malaria; Plasmodium vivax; Transfusion; Fever of unknown origin (FUO)

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

We report a case of a 39 year-old woman with transfusion-induced malaria presenting as fever of unknown origin. She had been well until 2 months ago when lower abdominal pain developed. Pelvic ultrasonography revealed an ovarian mass and an operation was performed. Two weeks after the operation, she developed a fever. Peripheral blood smear revealed developmental stages of Plasmodium vivax. The patient had received two units of whole blood during the operation, which was later proven to have been donated by a asymptomatic soldier who contracted tertian malaria while serving near the DMZ, an endemic area of malaria in South Korea. Considering such a case, malaria should be included in the differential diagnosis of post-transfusion febrile episodes.