Severe Plasmodium knowlesi Malaria in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Sabah, Malaysia

The simian parasite Plasmodium knowlesi causes severe human malaria; the optimal treatment remains unknown. We describe the clinical features, disease spectrum, and response to antimalarial chemotherapy, including artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate, in patients with P. knowlesi malaria diagnosed by PCR during December 2007–November 2009 at a tertiary care hospital in Sabah, Malaysia. Fifty-six patients had PCR-confirmed P. knowlesi monoinfection and clinical records available for review. Twenty-two (39%) had severe malaria; of these, 6 (27%) died. Thirteen (59%) had respiratory distress; 1... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Timothy William
Jayaram Menon
Giri S. Rajahram
Leslie Chan
Gordon Ma
Samantha Donaldson
Serena Khoo
Charlie Fredrick
Jenarun Jelip
Nicholas M. Anstey
Tsin Wen Yeo
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2011
Reihe/Periodikum: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 17, Iss 7, Pp 1248-1255 (2011)
Verlag/Hrsg.: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Schlagwörter: Severe malaria / Plasmodium knowlesi / artemisinin derivatives / artesunate / Sabab / Malaysian Borneo / Medicine / R / Infectious and parasitic diseases / RC109-216
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29235696
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1707.101017

The simian parasite Plasmodium knowlesi causes severe human malaria; the optimal treatment remains unknown. We describe the clinical features, disease spectrum, and response to antimalarial chemotherapy, including artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate, in patients with P. knowlesi malaria diagnosed by PCR during December 2007–November 2009 at a tertiary care hospital in Sabah, Malaysia. Fifty-six patients had PCR-confirmed P. knowlesi monoinfection and clinical records available for review. Twenty-two (39%) had severe malaria; of these, 6 (27%) died. Thirteen (59%) had respiratory distress; 12 (55%), acute renal failure; and 12, shock. None experienced coma. Patients with uncomplicated disease received chloroquine, quinine, or artemether-lumefantrine, and those with severe disease received intravenous quinine or artesunate. Parasite clearance times were 1–2 days shorter with either artemether-lumefantrine or artesunate treatment. P. knowlesi is a major cause of severe and fatal malaria in Sabah. Artemisinin derivatives rapidly clear parasitemia and are efficacious in treating uncomplicated and severe knowlesi malaria.