Morphological and Molecular Characterizations of Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Larvae Responsible for Wound Myiasis in French Guiana.

Myiasis is an ectoparasitic infection caused by the larvae of true flies (Diptera). We came across a rather rare case of myiasis in an immunocompetent 34-year-old man from French Guiana with advanced wound myiasis masquerading as cavitary myiasis and a history of cholesteatoma surgery in the left ear. The Diptera larvae responsible for the disease were isolated and identified using morphological and molecular approaches as Cochliomyia hominivorax. We underline the importance of this parasitosis as the second case of myiasis caused by C. hominivorax and the first case of wound myiasis in this overseas department of France and its incidence in pre-urban areas of the capital, Cayenne, in South America.

Severe long-delayed malaria caused by Plasmodium malariae in an elderly French patient.

BACKGROUND: Plasmodium malariae is the cause of the rare but severe form of malaria that sometimes affects individuals travelling to malaria-endemic regions. This report presents the unique case of a patient exhibiting severe malaria symptoms caused by P. malariae with no record of recent travel to any malaria-endemic areas. CASE PRESENTATION: An 81-year-old French woman was admitted to the emergency department with sustained fever and severe weakness for the past 5 days. She suffered from anaemia, thrombocytopenia, confusion, somnolence, pulmonary complications, and hypoxaemia. In the absence of any concrete aetiology that could explain the fever together with thrombocytopenia, physicians suspected malaria as a probable diagnosis. The LAMP-PCR and lateral flow test confirmed the presence of malaria parasite, Plasmodium sp. Microscopic examination (May-Grünwald Giemsa-stained thin blood smear) revealed the presence of trophozoites, schizonts, and gametocytes with 0.93 % parasitaemia. Conventional PCR amplification targeting 510 bp DNA fragment of small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssrRNA) and bidirectional sequencing identified the parasite as Plasmodium malariae. The travel history of this patient revealed her visits to several countries in Europe (Greece), North Africa (Tunisia and Morocco), and the West Indies (Dominican Republic). Of these, the latter was the only country known to be endemic for malaria at the time (three malaria parasite species were prevalent: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, and P. malariae). The patient had most likely got infected when she visited the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2002. This time interval between the initial parasite infection (2002) till the onset of symptoms and its subsequent diagnosis (2020) is a reminder of the ability of P. malariae to persist in the human host for many years. CONCLUSIONS: This report highlights the persistent nature and ability of P. malariae to cause severe infection in the host even after a prolonged time interval.