Pseudomonas aeruginosa septicaemia in a patient with severe Plasmodium falciparum

This report describes a Danish patient with severe Plasmodium falciparum infection and Pseudomonas aeruginosa septicaemia. The patient had been sailing along the coast of West Africa for ten years without taking any antimalaria prophylaxis and without any apparent previous history of malaria. He presented with severe form of malaria, progressing rapidly into coma and died within a short time. P. aeruginosa was isolated from his blood taken on the day of admission. His neutrophils were all occupied by P. falciparum. The unusual combination of severe falciparum malaria infection and P. aeruginosa septicaemia with extensive involvement of neutrophils lends further support for the role of phagocytic defence in malaria.