Diagnosis of malaria by polymerase chain reaction

Malaria is no longer endemic in Puerto Rico, however, imported cases of the disease are occasionally reported to the Health Department of the Island. This is a report of a 45-year-old female patient who traveled to Kenya and Niger and was admitted to a San Juan area hospital with an 8 day history of daily chills and fever, myalgia, nausea and vomiting. Upon admission, peripheral blood displayed multiple intra-erythrocytic ring-shape trophozoites, highly suggestive of Plasmodium falciparum. The polymerase chain reaction was used as a complementary method for the detection of malaria parasites and confirmation of post-treatment parasite clearance. This report presents an imported case of malaria in Puerto Rico and showed the use of a molecular technique to diagnose Plasmodium.