Taxonomy: f. Plasmodidae
Animal: Plasmodium vivax 2 16.jpg
Sites: Blood
Comment:
Plasmodium vivax in thin film - difficult diagnosis as patient had started chloroquine 2 days prior. - note rings and older trophozoites. Anti-malarial medication can distort the parasites -- it is best to take a sample prior to commencing presumptive treatment. In cases like this, further examinations should be performed to find more characteristic forms of the parasite before making a diagnosis. In this case a DNA probe was used that confirmed the diagnosis of a P.vivax infection. (see Bibliography- Relf et al 1990 and Boreham and Relf 1991). Anti-malarial drugs are known to affect pigment clumping, stop formation of schizonts and affect viability of gametocytes, size of schizonts and number of merozoites. Immunity will affect the parasites development and appearance e.g. The trophozoites of P.vivax may not be as amoeboid as usual.
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