Clarifying the terms parasitemia, parasite density, and parasite count

According to the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Guidelines on the Use of Therapeutic Apheresis in Clinical Practice, parasitemia can be used, in addition to clinical status, to help decide when to initiate and/or discontinue red blood cell (RBC) exchange for babesiosis (caused by Babesia) and malaria (caused by Plasmodium) [5]. For example, the Guidelines for malaria mention that RBC exchange or manual exchange transfusion can improve blood flow in "severely ill patients with hyperparasitemia (>10%)" and state, “Treatment is typically discontinued after achieving significant clinical improvement and/or
Source: Transfusion and Apheresis Science - Category: Hematology Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research