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File:IPLab11Malaria7.jpg|In this peripheral smear from a different patient who was infected with P. vivax, the cytoplasm of the infected RBC has a stippled appearance (Schüffner's dots) (arrow). The RBC is also slightly enlarged.
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== Study Questions ==
* <spoiler text="This man had been taking appropriate malaria chemoprophylaxis during his stay in Thailand. Why did the patient get malaria nonetheless?">He could have gotten malaria because some malaria organisms have developed resistance to commonly used antimalarial drugs. Another common cause is noncompliance -- travelers forget to take their drugs!</spoiler>
* <spoiler text="What was the possible mechanism for the dysentery that developed in this patient?">Parasitized red blood cells cause obstruction of small blood vessels in the bowel leading to bowel ischemia. Another possible cause for dysentery in someone just back from a third world country would be intestinal parasites, such as Giardia, Entamoeba, or helminths.</spoiler>
* <spoiler text="What was the probable cause of the patient's altered mental status?">Patients with very high fever can develop altered metal status, but in this case the likely cause would be malignant cerebral malaria. Parasitized RBCs block small blood vessels in the brain leading to multifocal areas of hypoxia.</spoiler>
{{IPLab 11}}
[[Category: IPLab:Lab 11]]
