Early treatment failure in concurrent dengue and mixed malaria species infection with suspected resistance to artemisinin combination therapy from a tertiary care center in Delhi: a case report

BACKGROUND Concurrent dengue and mixed malaria infections in a single patient present with overlapping clinical manifestations which pose a diagnostic challenge and management dilemma in areas of common endemicities. METHODS We report a case of a young male who tested positive for both Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum along with dengue infection. He showed signs of early treatment failure to artemisinin combination therapy (artesunate with sulfadoxine+pyrimethamine). Molecular analysis for the drug resistance genes viz: chloroquine resistance (pfcrt), multidrug resistance (pfmdr-1), sulfadoxine (pfdhps), pyrimethamine (pfdhfr), and artemisinin resistance (keltch 13) was performed. RESULTS A rise in parasitemia from <2% to 5% was observed after 3 days of treatment. Mutations in pfcrt, pfmdr-1, pfdhfr, and pfdhps genes were detected as a possible cause of treatment failure. CONCLUSION Increased severity, overlapping symptoms, and suspected resistance to treatment warrants a multidimensional diagnostic approach and diligent therapeutic monitoring.