Plasmodium vivax Presenting With Septic Shock and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC): A Case Report.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Satti, Zain Khurshid, Abaan Mohammed, Rahed Jose, Rejath Olayode, Adewale
Editor	Muacevic, Alexander Adler, John R
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	Malaria has various causative agents that can have a spectrum of disease manifestations, some potentially fatal. Various species have been established as etiologies of malaria, though our understanding of the severity of various species is changing. We present a unique case of Plasmodium vivax malaria that resulted in severe disease, a magnitude rarely seen in previous literature. Our patient was a 35-year-old healthy woman who presented to the emergency department with abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. Further workup revealed severe thrombocytopenia with prolonged prothrombin (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT). An initial thick smear failed to detect any Plasmodium species, but a thin smear revealed P. vivax. The patient's hospital stay was complicated by septic shock requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. This unique case represents P. vivax as the causative agent of severe malaria even in healthy, immunocompetent patients.
Journal	Cureus
Volume Number	15
DOI	10.7759/cureus.40042
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10324627
Issue Number	6
PubMed reference number	37425547
e-ISSN	21688184
Language	English
Publisher	Cureus
Publisher Date	2023-06-06
Publisher Place	Palo Alto (CA)
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	disseminated intravascular coagulation (dic) septic shock [ss] infectious disease pathology malaria treatment plasmodium vivax malaria
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Case study
Subject	Medicine