Failure of intravenous artesunate treatment for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a splenectomized traveller: A diagnostic challenge

A 55-year-old caucasian traveller was admitted to the intensive care unit of Hospital Clinic of Barcelona for severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria after a 4-day business trip to Sierra Leona. His past medical history included hypertension, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and a splenectomy after a car crash, 15 years before the current episode. The patient only took antimalarial chemoprophylaxis with atovaquone/proguanil during the first 4 days of his stay in the malaria endemic region.
Source: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Diagnostic Challenge Source Type: research