Open AccessConcurrent malaria and dengue fever: A need for rapid diagnostic methods
Author(s) -
Manish Bhagat,
Sujata Kanhere,
Varsha Phadke,
Riya George
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of family medicine and primary care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2278-7135
pISSN - 2249-4863
DOI - 10.4103/2249-4863.148146
Subject(s) - dengue fever , malaria , medicine , vector (molecular biology) , plasmodium vivax , virology , intensive care medicine , environmental health , immunology , plasmodium falciparum , biology , biochemistry , gene , recombinant dna
Malaria and dengue fever are endemic in the South-East Asian region including India. Both the illnesses share similar symptomatology, but differ in certain respects such as different- causative organisms and mosquito vector with diverse habitat. Hence, concurrent malaria and dengue fever in the same patient is said to be unusual. There have been cases of concurrent malaria and dengue, but they are scarce from highly endemic region like ours. Here, we describe three unusual cases of Plasmodium vivax and dengue co-infection diagnosed by use of rapid diagnostic tests. Early diagnosis and timely intervention is crucial in managing such patients.