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Transmission of malaria from donors to solid organ transplant recipients: A case report and literature review
Author(s) -
Rosso Fernando,
Agudelo Rojas Olga Lucia,
Suarez Gil Cindy Carolina,
Lopez Vargas Jaime Alberto,
GómezMesa Juan Esteban,
Carrillo Gomez Diana Cristina,
Meza Ramirez Liliana,
Caicedo Rusca Luis Armando
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/tid.13660
Subject(s) - medicine , malaria , transmission (telecommunications) , organ transplantation , immunology , kidney transplantation , transplantation , intensive care medicine , surgery , electrical engineering , engineering
Malaria is a febrile and potentially fatal infection. It is typically transmitted to humans through the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes and less frequently can be contracted through blood transfusions, sharing contaminated needles and syringes, mother‐to‐child transmission, or after solid organ transplantation. Posttransplant malaria has rarely been reported in the literature, even in endemic areas. We report the cases of three solid organ recipients in which Plasmodium vivax infection was documented during postsurgical evaluation 30 days after transplant surgery. The diagnosis of donor‐derived malaria was confirmed in all patients by demonstrating Plasmodium in a peripheral blood smear and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All recipients had symptoms. The liver transplant recipient had myalgia, arthralgia, and thrombocytopenia; the kidney transplant recipient developed acute renal failure; and the heart transplant recipient had fever, cephalalgia, and tonic‐clonic seizures. Pre‐transplant screening of donors and recipients from endemic regions may not be sufficient to safely rule out persistent malaria. In Colombia, according to legislation, no mandatory testing is required for the diagnosis of malaria in organ donors in nonendemic areas. Therefore, donor screening by questionnaire is the only tool for preventing transplant‐borne malaria. The migratory trend from Venezuela to Colombia has increased the number of imported cases of malaria, and the infection may be present in endemic and nonendemic regions. Although donor evaluation is not standardized in current guidelines, we suggest that donors be tested for malaria with a peripheral blood smear, detection of specific IgG antibodies against Plasmodium , and techniques such as PCR, if possible.