Two cases of mixed infection of malaria diagnosed by PCR method

Abstract

We here reported two Japanese cases of mixed infections of plasmodium species, whose DNAs were detected using the PCR test. One case was a 31 year-old male, who presented fever and fatigue, and had a travel history to Kenya, Cameroon and Indonesia. Smear test of his peripheral blood found the presence of Plasmodium vivax, while nested-PCR diagnosis detected the DNAs both P. vivax and Plasmodium malariae. The other was a 54 year-old female suffering from general fatigue. She had been treated with chloroquine for falciparum malaria in Indonesia two weeks before. Malaria antigen test showed positive although no Plasmodium organisms were found in the smear test. The nested PCR detected the DNA of Plasmodium ovale in addition to that of Plasmodium falciparum. In conclusion, the PCR test is helpful and useful for detection of mixed infections of Plasmodium species.