Speers D J, Ryan S, Harnett G, Chidlow G
Department of General Medicine, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, The Western Australian Centre for Pathology and Medical Research, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
Intern Med J. 2003 Dec;33(12):613-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.2003.00500.x.
Light microscopy of thick and thin blood smears is the mainstay of malaria diagnosis. In situations of low-level parasitaemia such as drug-modified disease, however, this may be difficult making clinical management problematic. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods have shown high sensitivity for the diagnosis of malaria and are able to differentiate the Plasmodium species involved. Two cases are presented in the present study, which illustrate how a PCR method can aid light microscopic malaria diagnosis and species differentiation in returned travellers with low-level parasitaemia. Plasmodium vivax was detected by PCR prior to the light microscopy becoming positive in one case, and in the second case Plasmodium malariae was detected when light microscopy was unable to speciate the causative Plasmodium species.
厚薄血涂片的光学显微镜检查是疟疾诊断的主要方法。然而，在诸如药物改变疾病等低水平寄生虫血症的情况下，这可能会很困难，从而使临床管理出现问题。聚合酶链反应（PCR）方法在疟疾诊断中显示出高灵敏度，并且能够区分所涉及的疟原虫种类。本研究展示了两个病例，说明了PCR方法如何有助于对低水平寄生虫血症的归国旅行者进行光学显微镜疟疾诊断和种类区分。在一个病例中，在光学显微镜检查呈阳性之前通过PCR检测到间日疟原虫，在第二个病例中，当光学显微镜无法鉴定致病疟原虫种类时检测到三日疟原虫。
