DONOR-DERIVED PLASMODIUM-VIVAX INFECTION FOLLOWING VOLUNTEER UNRELATED BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

A 14-year-old girl from the UK underwent volunteer unrelated donor bon e marrow transplant (VUD BMT) for accelerated phase chronic myeloid le ukaemia, On day +40 she became febrile, and peripheral blood smears de monstrated a 1% Plasmodium vivax parasitaemia, Although she had never been outside the UK, her male donor had documented Plasmodium vivax in fection during a vacation in Papua New Guinea, Following appropriate t reatment, he had been asymptomatic for 11 months before marrow harvest ing. This is the first case report of malarial transmission by VUD BMT , and illustrates the potential problem of recrudescence of latent, do rmant forms of Plasmodium vivax infection following transplantation in to an immune-compromised recipient, Even after appropriate therapy, ma larial infection should be included in the differential diagnosis for all post-transplant febrile episodes.