Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Malar J. 2010 Oct 8;9:272. doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-9-272.
Plasmodium ovale infection is rarely reported in Malaysia. This is the first imported case of P. ovale infection in Malaysia which was initially misdiagnosed as Plasmodium vivax.
Peripheral blood sample was first examined by Giemsa-stained microscopy examination and further confirmed using a patented in-house multiplex PCR followed by sequencing.
Initial results from peripheral blood smear examination diagnosed P. vivax infection. However further analysis using a patented in-house multiplex PCR followed by sequencing confirmed the presence of P. ovale. Given that Anopheles maculatus and Anopheles dirus, vectors of P. ovale are found in Malaysia, this finding has significant implication on Malaysia's public health sector.
The current finding should serve as an alert to epidemiologists, clinicians and laboratory technicians in the possibility of finding P. ovale in Malaysia. P. ovale should be considered in the differential diagnosis of imported malaria cases in Malaysia due to the exponential increase in the number of visitors from P. ovale endemic regions and the long latent period of P. ovale. It is also timely that conventional diagnosis of malaria via microscopy should be coupled with more advanced molecular tools for effective diagnosis.
在马来西亚，卵形疟原虫感染的报道很少。这是马来西亚首例输入性卵形疟原虫感染病例，最初误诊为间日疟原虫。
首先通过吉姆萨染色显微镜检查对外周血样本进行检查，然后使用专利的内部多重 PCR 进一步确认，接着进行测序。
外周血涂片检查的初步结果诊断为间日疟原虫感染。然而，进一步使用专利内部多重 PCR 进行分析，接着测序证实存在卵形疟原虫。鉴于在马来西亚发现了卵形疟原虫的传播媒介按蚊属和按蚊属，这一发现对马来西亚的公共卫生部门具有重要意义。
目前的发现应该提醒流行病学家、临床医生和实验室技术人员，在马来西亚有可能发现卵形疟原虫。由于来自卵形疟原虫流行地区的游客数量呈指数级增长，以及卵形疟原虫的潜伏期较长，因此在马来西亚，应将卵形疟原虫纳入输入性疟疾病例的鉴别诊断。及时采用更先进的分子工具进行常规疟疾诊断也很重要。
