A three year old male from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was admitted to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with a 10-day history of fever, emesis, and diarrhea. Examination demonstrated scleral icterus, splenomegaly, and anemia. By peripheral blood smear, the patient was diagnosed with Plasmodium ovale. Immunohematology demonstrated a positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT) for IgG and C3d with pan-agglutination on eluate. These findings, in combination with hemolytic labs, signified presence of an autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). We believe this to be the first reported case of P. ovale infection-mediated AIHA.
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