Falciparum Malaria Incidentally Pretreated with Azithromycin.

Abstract

A 65-year-old man, who recently returned from Liberia, visited a clinic complaining of fever, and azithromycin was prescribed. The patient presented to a general hospital 5 days after the onset of symptoms, however, a blood smear examination failed to detect malaria. Contrary to the blood smear result, a rapid antigen test in our hospital was strongly-positive for falciparum malaria, indicating a high level of malarial antigen in the blood. Moreover, laboratory examinations on admission showed a tendency for improvement. We assumed that the administration of azithromycin partially treated malaria, thus complicating the blood smear diagnosis. We should be careful in prescribing azithromycin, which is widely used in clinics, to travelers returning from malaria-endemic countries.

• Authors: Daisuke Shibahara, Takeshi Kinjo, Naoya Nishiyama, Wakaki Kami, Daijiro Nabeya, Shusaku Haranaga, Futoshi Higa, Masao Tateyama, Takashi Shinzato, Hiromu Toma, Hidehiro Kishimoto, Jiro Fujita
• Journal: Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) (Intern Med) Vol. 54 Issue 19 Pg. 2513-6 ( 2015) ISSN: 1349-7235 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 26424314 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-Bacterial Agents
• Antimalarials
• Azithromycin

Topics

• Aged
• Anti-Bacterial Agents (administration & dosage)
• Antimalarials (therapeutic use)
• Azithromycin (administration & dosage)
• Delayed Diagnosis
• Fever (drug therapy, etiology)
• Humans
• Malaria, Falciparum (blood, complications, diagnosis)
• Male
• Practice Patterns, Physicians'
• Travel