Malaysian child infected with Plasmodium vivax via blood transfusion: a case report

• Main Authors: Anthony, C.N., Lau, Y.L., Sum, J.S., Fong, M.Y., Ariffin, H., Zaw, W.L., Jeyajothi, I., Mahmud, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: R Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/8691/1/Anthony-2013-Malaysian_child_infe.pdf; http://eprints.um.edu.my/8691/; http://www.malariajournal.com/content/pdf/1475-2875-12-308.pdf
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

Malaria may be a serious complication of blood transfusion due to the asymptomatic persistence of parasites in some donors. This case report highlights the transfusion-transmitted malaria of Plasmodium vivax in a child diagnosed with germ cell tumour. This child had received blood transfusion from three donors and a week later started developing malaria like symptoms. Nested PCR and sequencing confirmed that one of the three donors was infected with P. vivax and this was transmitted to the 12-year-old child. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported transfusion-transmitted malaria case in Malaysia.