Research of Plasmodium spp. and Hepatitis C virus in febrile patients suspected of having malaria in Yaoundé, Cameroon

CaHReF 20116, Yaoundé Conges hall, 23 – 26 August 2016 , PL063

Plasmodium spp. and hepatitis C virus (HCV) diseases share common clinical
symptoms such as fever, and liver constitutes an important component in the development of both blood pathogens which are endemic in Cameroon. Thus, this study was carried out with the aim of finding a possible relationship between Plasmodium spp. and HCV in febrile patients suspected of having malaria.
Ninety (90) blood samples were collected from febrile patients suspected of having
malaria with temperatures of 38°C and above, at the Oyom-Abang Catholic Health Center, with their consent or that of their parents or guardians. The detection of Plasmodium spp. was carried out by microscopic examination of blood smears, and also by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kit, SD-Bioline Malaria Antigen Pf/Pan, while HCV was detected by the immunochromatographic test kit, AcuMen.
At the end of the study, 53 (58.89 %) patients were found to be infected with
Plasmodium spp., 3 (3.33 %) with HCV, and 2 (2.22 %) had co-infections. Five (5) of the 53 Plasmodium positive cases were detected by microscopy only, 13 by RDT only and 35 by both techniques. Interestingly, the parasitemia in both cases of co-infections found to be 16748 and 17159 parasites per µL of blood was weak, compared to the average parasitemia (54961.65 ± 21715.16 parasites per µL of blood) of those infected with Plasmodium spp. Only

Our study confirms Plasmodium spp. is obviously an important cause of fever in
Yaoundé and should thus contribute to the misdiagnosis of HCV. HCV should slow down the evolution of sporozoites in liver and thus impact the Plasmodium spp. parasitemia and manifestation of malaria. The use of RDT in detection of recent and ongoing Plasmodium infection should be promoted.

Plasmodium spp., HCV, febrile patients, co-infection, parasitemia, RDT