[Laboratory testing for a case of imported Plasmodium ovale infection in Zhejiang Province]

Blood sample obtained from a patient, which returned from Equatorial Guinea, with clinical diagnosis of Plasmodium infection was confirmed as imported P. ovale infection by etiology and molecular biological methods. 50 microl blood was obtained before taking anti-malarial drugs to make thin and thick blood smears, Giemsa stained, and observed by microscopy. Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood sample, and detected for DNA fragment of P. ovale, P. vivax, P. falciparum or P. malariae by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. P. ovale parasites were found in both thin and thick blood smears, and confirmed by quantitative PCR. With the results of laboratory testing, epidemiological history and clinical manifestations, the patient was diagnosed as imported P. ovale infection.