Читать книгу Practical Guide to Diagnostic Parasitology - Lynne Shore Garcia - Страница 45

When requests for malarial smears are received in the laboratory, some patient history information should be made available to the laboratorian. This history can be obtained by asking the ordering physician important questions such as the following:

1. Where has the patient been, and what was the date of return to the United States? (Where do you live and where do you work? [“airport malaria”])

2. Has malaria ever been diagnosed in the patient before? If so, which species was identified?

3. What medication (prophylaxis or otherwise) has the patient received, and how often? When was the last dose taken?

4. Has the patient ever received a blood transfusion? Is there a possibility of other needle transmission (drug user)?

5. When was the blood specimen drawn, and was the patient symptomatic at the time?

6. Is there any evidence of a fever periodicity?

Answers to such questions may help eliminate the possibility of infection with P. falciparum or P. vivax, usually the only two species that can cause severe disease and, in the case of P. falciparum, can rapidly lead to death.