Chapter 23, Problem 1CCS

A 20-year-old student was admitted to his college’s student health center with headaches and fever shortly after beginning the fall semester. He had spent his summer working with an international aid organization in Nigeria and had returned to the United States only one week earlier. Gross examination revealed a diffuse rash and numerous insect bites. The young man had spent most of his summer outdoors in rural areas, had taken no prophylactic antimalarial medication, and had spent some time on African game reserves working with the families of local guides. The patient could not specifically remember receiving any of the bite wounds on his body, and he did not always use insect repellent in the field. The young man was admitted to the local hospital, where intermittent fever, nausea, and headache continued. Initial blood smears proved negative for malaria.

1. 1. What are some possible protozoan diseases the patient could have contracted in Africa?
2. 2. Can this disease be identified from the symptoms alone?
3. 3. Based on the pictured blood smear, what would you conclude about the cause of the disease?
4. 4. What would the treatment be if the patient had tested positive for malaria?
5. 5. What treatment would you now recommend?
6. 6. What prevention would you have suggested to this individual?
7. 7. Is there a local threat of anyone else contracting this disease from the young man?