Plasmodium vivax and Mansonella ozzardi co-infection in north-western Argentina

Abstract

A case of co-infection with Plasmodium vivax and Mansonella ozzardi was detected in a blood sample from a person who had shown symptoms of malaria and lived in a city that was close to the Argentina/Bolivia border. The case was detected during a random revision of thick and thin smears from patients diagnosed with malaria from various towns and cities located in north-western Argentina between 1983 and 2001. Trophozoites of P. vivax were observed in the thin blood smear along with M. ozzardi microfilaria (larval form), which presented a long, slender, pointed anucleate tail and the absence of the sheath. This last characteristic is shared with Mansonella perstans, Mansonella streptocerca and Onchocerca volvulus. More rigorously controlled studies to detect other co-infection cases in the area as well as the possibility of importation from Bolivia into Argentina are currently ongoing. The relationship between the malaria parasite and microfilaria, the potential effect of malaria treatment on the development of M. ozzardi, and the possible impact of this microfilaria on the immunity of a person against P. vivax are all still unknown. This contribution constitutes a point of focus for future studies involving the interaction between the parasites and the potential risk that humans are exposed to.

Molecular Epidemiology of Blood-Borne Human Parasites in a Loa loa-, Mansonella perstans-, and Plasmodium falciparum-Endemic Region of Cameroon

“…and either Loa loa , Mansonella perstans or Mansonella ozzardi , three clinically less-important filarial parasites, have been seen in populations living in Uganda, Cameroon, and Argentina. 10 , 15 – 17 Coinfections involving only filarial helminths are similarly well known: L. loa and M. perstans dual infections have been observed in Cameroon, 18 Congo, 19 Gabon, 20 , 21 and Nigeria, 22 and L. loa – Onchocerca volvulus coinfection has been described in Cameroon. 23 , 24 Concomitant infections with three (or more) human filarial helminths have also been reported.…”

Detection of Mansonella ozzardi among blood donors from highly endemic interior cities of Amazonas state, northern Brazil

“…M. ozzardi and malaria infections co‐exist in many endemic areas as in the Brazilian Amazon, where M. ozzardi microfilariae have been fortuitously detected by microscopic examination of malaria Giemsa‐stained thick blood smears . M. ozzardi infection in Brazil was first described in Manaus, in the late 1940's .…”

“…M. ozzardi infection in Brazil was first described in Manaus, in the late 1940's . However, it is not considered common in urban populations, with most studies having described M. ozzardi in indigenous communities in the Amazon basin and its tributaries …”

Mansonella ozzardiand its vectors in the New World: an update with emphasis on the current situation in Haiti

“…Second, in the centre of Brazil, some foci have been reported along the Xingu River in the north of Mato Grosso (d'Andretta et al ., 1969), but this region is not widely recognized as an endemic area. Third, in the south, the area straddling southern Bolivia and northern Argentina is still active (Shelley & Coscarón, 2001; Dantur Juri et al ., 2013; Lima et al ., 2016; Veggiani Aybar, 2016).…”