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Kamegai K, Hayakawa K, Yamamoto K, Nomoto H, Komaki-Yasuda K, Kano S, Ohmagari N. Imported severe Plasmodium falciparum infection in the first trimester of pregnancy complicated by post-artemisinin delayed hemolysis and intrauterine fetal death, a case report. Trop Med Health 2023; 51:25. [PMID: 37170175 PMCID: PMC10175055 DOI: 10.1186/s41182-023-00510-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Post-artemisinin delayed hemolysis (PADH) is a serious complication in patients who recover from severe malaria after receiving artemisinin-based combined therapy (ACT), including artemether-lumefantrine. In Japan, among the antimalarial drugs recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline for severe malaria, intravenous quinine gluconate is available only in 29 designated hospitals, and intravenous artesunate is unavailable. Therefore, oral artemether-lumefantrine is occasionally administered as an alternative, even though it may be a suboptimal treatment. In non-endemic settings like Japan, a lack of knowledge of malaria and the side effects, such as post-artemisinin delayed hemolysis caused by the ACT, can have critical consequences. Like our patient, being a primigravida in the early stages of pregnancy is a serious risk factor for severe malaria and must be carefully monitored. CASE PRESENTATION This report describes a severe case of imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria complicated by fetal loss and prolonged anemia, requiring frequent blood transfusions. The patient was a previously healthy pregnant Japanese female in her 30 s. She developed a high fever 2 days after returning from Nigeria. The patient fulfilled the severe malaria criteria by WHO. On arrival, an abdominal ultrasound incidentally revealed a fetus of 5 week gestational age with a heartbeat in the uterus. Given her pregnancy and the severity of the disease, she was administered intravenous quinine 16 mg/kg as a loading dose. However, the second dose of quinine was not administered due to frequent vomiting and QTc prolongation. We initiated treatment with oral artemether-lumefantrine, and clearance of parasitemia was confirmed by microscopic observation on day 4. Miscarriage was noted on day 6 after admission. Moreover, the patient became feverish again up to 39 °C, and from days 14 to 22, the patient required multiple blood transfusions due to PADH. On day 40, follow-up was discontinued as the hemoglobin level exceeded 10 g/dL. CONCLUSIONS In patients who recover from severe malaria after ACT treatment, monitoring the hemoglobin level for at least a month is strongly recommended for prompt identification of PADH. Travelers to malaria-endemic countries, especially primigravida women, should be provided with adequate information on the risk and prevention of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohei Kamegai
- Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Kayoko Hayakawa
- Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kei Yamamoto
- Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hidetoshi Nomoto
- Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kanako Komaki-Yasuda
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Malaria, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shigeyuki Kano
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Malaria, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Norio Ohmagari
- Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
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Kurth F, Tober-Lau P, Lingscheid T, Bardtke L, Kim J, Angheben A, Gobbi FG, Mbavu L, Stegemann MS, Heim KM, Pfäfflin F, Menner N, Schürmann M, Mikolajewska A, Witzenrath M, Sander LE, Mayer B, Zoller T. Post-treatment haemolysis is common following oral artemisinin combination therapy of uncomplicated malaria in travellers. J Travel Med 2023; 30:6972275. [PMID: 36611010 DOI: 10.1093/jtm/taad001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) for the treatment of malaria is highly effective, well tolerated and safe. Episodes of delayed hemolysis occur in up to 57.9% of patients with severe malaria treated with intravenous artesunate, mainly caused by 'pitting' of infected red blood cells (RBCs) in the spleen and delayed loss of these once-infected RBCs (oiRBCs). Several reports indicate that post-treatment hemolysis (PTH) also occurs in uncomplicated malaria treated with oral ACT, calling for systematic investigation. METHODS Prospective observational study to identify the proportion of patients with PTH after oral ACT, defined as increased lactate dehydrogenase activity and low haptoglobin level on day 14 after treatment. Patients were enrolled at two study centres in Germany and Italy. Study visits took place on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28. Laboratory investigations included extended clinical routine laboratory tests, quantitative P.f.-HRP2, anti-RBC antibodies, and oiRBCs. State of semi-immunity to malaria was assessed from childhood and ongoing exposure to Plasmodium spp. as per patient history. RESULTS A total of 134 patients with uncomplicated malaria and 3-day ACT treatment were recruited. Thirty-seven (37.4%) of 99 evaluable patients with P.f. and none of nine patients with non-P.f. malaria exhibited PTH on d14. Patients with PTH had higher initial parasitaemia, higher oiRBC counts on d3, and a 10-fold decrease in oiRBCs between d7 and d14 compared to patients without PTH. In patients with PTH, loss of haemoglobin (Hb) was 4-fold greater in non-Africans than in Africans (-1.3 vs -0.3 g/dl). Semi-immune African patients with PTH showed markedly increased erythropoiesis on d14 compared to not semi-immune African and non-African patients with PTH. CONCLUSIONS PTH is common in patients with uncomplicated malaria and oral ACT. While the observed loss of Hb will not be clinically relevant in most cases, it could aggravate pre-existing anaemia and warrants follow-up examinations in populations at risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Kurth
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pinkus Tober-Lau
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tilman Lingscheid
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lara Bardtke
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Johanna Kim
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Andrea Angheben
- Department of Infectious/Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, IRCCS Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar di Valpolicella, Verona, Italy
| | - Federico G Gobbi
- Department of Infectious/Tropical Diseases and Microbiology, IRCCS Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria Hospital, Negrar di Valpolicella, Verona, Italy
| | - Lena Mbavu
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Miriam S Stegemann
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Katrin M Heim
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Frieder Pfäfflin
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Nikolai Menner
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Mariana Schürmann
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Agata Mikolajewska
- Centre for Biological Threats and Special Pathogens, Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Witzenrath
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Leif E Sander
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin
| | - Beate Mayer
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Thomas Zoller
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Respiratory Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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