A Vietnamese woman has been found infected with Trypanosoma evansi (T. evansi), a kind of blood parasite affecting many wild and domestic animal species, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases reported on Monday.
This is the first time the T. evansi has been found in humans in Vietnam, which happened to B.T.C., 38 years old, a worker in the southern province of Dong Nai, the hospital said.
C. was admitted to the Dong Nai General Hospital on March 17 for treatment after 18 days of suffering from fever and other symptoms.
She was transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases on March 18, with a high fever at 39.5 degrees Celsius, chills, headache, and yellow urine, doctors said.
Tests showed signs of damage to C.’s liver and kidneys, and a T. evansi infection.
A sample taken from the patient was sent to Kasetsart University in Thailand for testing and the result confirmed that B. had a T. evansi infection, said Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, director of the hospital.
Doctors then treated C. with ceftriaxone and amphotericin B by intravenous infusion, and the patient’s condition improved rapidly, with her fever ending 24 hours after that, according to news website Nguoi Dua Tin.
After four days of treatment, the patient completely recovered and was discharged on March 30.
According to medical literature, the T. evansi mainly causes diseases to animals, but it can affect humans in some rare cases, in which the patients’ immunity system experiences an abnormality and cannot cope with this species of blood parasite, Dr. Chau said.
Before suffering a fever, C. came to the Central Highlands of Dak Lak to visit her family who lives in a house next to another that raises a lot of cows and pigs, Dr. Chau said, adding that there are many rats in the residential area.
The T. evansi is transmitted by biting insects and when parasitizing in the blood of animals or humans, it absorbs nutrients from the hosts while secreting toxins that cause fever, destroy red blood cells, and inhibit the blood forming organs, the doctor said.
Currently, the hospital is working with experts from Oxford University, the Dong Nai Province Preventive Health Center, and veterinary agencies to conduct a study on the rare case to determine the possible causes of human infection of the T. evansi, he added.
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