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Placental Schistosoma haematobium infection in a German returnee from Malawi

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Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a widespread helminthic infection which sometimes may affect travelers to endemic areas. We report on a case of urogenital and placental schistosomiasis in a 28-year-old German woman who had been exposed to schistosomiasis in Lake Malawi one year earlier. She experienced painless macrohaematuria in her 21st week of pregnancy. Cystoscopy revealed vesical lesions typical for urogenital schistosomiasis. Histopathology confirmed ova of Schistosoma (S.) haematobium. The patient was treated with praziquantel 40 mg/kg/body weight/day for 3 days. After 285 days of gestation and 18 weeks post treatment, the patient delivered a healthy girl. Histopathology of placenta revealed eggs of S. haematobium in placental stroma. The infant proved negative for anti-Schistosoma spp. antibodies at the age of 15 months. This is the first report on placental schistosomiasis since 1980 and the first case occurring in a traveler.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Grant to Mathias W. Pletz (KI 011204).

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the editor-in-chief of this journal.

Conflict of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Jena University Hospital, Erlanger Allee 101, 07740, Jena, Thuringia, FR Germany

    B. T. Schleenvoigt & M. W. Pletz

  2. Institute for Medical Microbiology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, FR Germany

    B. T. Schleenvoigt, M. Baier & W. Pfister

  3. Center for Sepsis Control and Care (CSCC), Jena University Hospital, Jena, FR Germany

    M. W. Pletz

  4. Department for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Jena University Hospital, Jena, FR Germany

    T. Groten

  5. Institute for Pathology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, FR Germany

    M. Gajda

  6. Department for Urology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, FR Germany

    H. Oppel-Heuchel & M. O. Grimm

  7. Tropical Medicine Unit, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, FR Germany

    J. Richter

Authors
  1. B. T. Schleenvoigt
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  2. M. Gajda
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  3. M. Baier
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  4. T. Groten
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  5. H. Oppel-Heuchel
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  6. M. O. Grimm
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  7. W. Pfister
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  8. J. Richter
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  9. M. W. Pletz
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Correspondence to B. T. Schleenvoigt.

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Schleenvoigt, B.T., Gajda, M., Baier, M. et al. Placental Schistosoma haematobium infection in a German returnee from Malawi. Infection 42, 1061–1064 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-014-0684-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-014-0684-3

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