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Pleural parasite infection presenting with an isolated pleural effusion misdiagnosed as tuberculosis: a case report.

Qiu-Shi YangRen-Jie QiNian WangShu-Song Ruan
Published in: Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease (2024)
Pleural parasitic infection is an extremely rare disease of the pleura caused by a variety of parasites, with paragonimiasis infection being the most common. The lack of specific clinical symptoms for paragonimiasis makes it easy to misdiagnose as tuberculosis, causing unnecessary drug-related adverse effects and financial burdens from incorrect treatment. We report a case of a pediatric patient presenting with an isolated pleural effusion that was misdiagnosed as tuberculosis; the patient was eventually diagnosed with pleuropulmonary paragonimiasis infection after immunologic and serologic tests. The patient finally recovered after anti-parasitic treatment involving praziquantel administration. This report will help increase awareness of this disease among medical practitioners to avoid misdiagnosis and treatment delays which may lead to disease progression.
Keyphrases
  • mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • case report
  • healthcare
  • emergency department
  • combination therapy
  • coronavirus disease
  • hiv infected
  • health insurance
  • plasmodium falciparum