Malaria or Kidney Infection?

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QUESTION

Two months ago my daughter was in Uganda working and when came back to the States she was hospitalized for 4 days with Malaria symptoms. Her tests came back negative they really didn’t act like they knew how to treat this. They kept telling her they didn’t know how to diagnosis Malaria. So they treated her for it. She now after 2 months is once again hospitalized with the same symptoms. They are telling her they think it is a kidney infection. Can malaria be misdiagnosed as a kidney infection. She once again has all the symptoms as malaria?

ANSWER

What tests did the doctors do to try to diagnose malaria in your daughter when she first got back to the States? Usually, malaria is diagnosed by a blood test, whereby a trained technician will look at the patient’s blood under a microscope. The technician looks for signs of the malaria parasite in the patient’s blood, and if seen, can determine the intensity of the infection as well as the species of malaria. This is important information for accurate treatment. Alternatively, rapid diagnostic tests, which utilize a droplet of blood in a device which looks similar to a pregnancy test, and can very quickly determine whether someone is infected with malaria. It is important to know that malaria cannot be diagnosed by looking at standard blood parameters. If you don’t think your doctors know what is afflicting your daughter, you should take her to a clinic which specializes in tropical or travel medicine. There, they will certainly know how to effectively diagnose your daughter.

Given that your daughter experienced a resurgence of symptoms two months after returning, if she did have malaria, then there are two kinds which she might have: Plasmodium ovale and Plasmodium vivax. The other types of malaria, including the most deadly kind, P. falciparum, are not able to come back and relapse once they are treated. However, in order to prevent future relapses, your daughter may also have to be treated with another form of medication called primaquine. I will emphasize again, however, that it is crucial to gain an accurate diagnosis before taking any form of treatment for malaria.

Malaria or Not?

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QUESTION

I went to Luanda, Angola and Port Hartcourt, Nigeria, Onne, Nigeria and Warri, Nigeria a few times. I suffer with voice problems, muscle control on my right side and some joint pains that have not been explained by my doctors.

I have been to doctors in Houston, Tx., New Orleans, La., New Iberia, La. and Franklin, La. and they all say the same thing. They don’t know what’s wrong with me. It maybe malaria that has laid dormant for nearly three years. I need to find out who can diagnose this for me and get me some help. My symptoms go back to 2009 with the balance being the first problem I noticed. The loss of my voice came later. I took off work for 5 months. Help me find someone close that might be able to help.

ANSWER

Although joint pains are associated sometimes with malaria infection, the most common symptoms are high fevers and chills—it would be unusual to suffer problems of with balance, the voice or muscle spasms.

A blood test is the only way to test for malaria for sure—this may be possible at a local travel clinic or any hospital which has a tropical medicine specialist.

I am not sure of any such exact clinics/hospitals in your area. However, I believe the CDC website has a list of local resources for tropical medicine. Otherwise, the CDC itself is located in Atlanta, GA, and they are certainly able to perform malaria testing, as well as give you advice as to whether you might be suffering from some other disease acquired internationally.