What is the cause of this fever? Malaria with concomitant pneumonia.

A 43-year-old Hispanic woman presented to the clinic complaining of fever, chills and cough for 14 days. The patient reported a recent trip to Asia 12 days prior to presenting symptoms. Given her physical examination findings, she was treated empirically for community acquired pneumonia. Since her symptoms worsened despite the antibiotic, she was referred to the Emergency Department for further evaluation. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with pneumonia and malaria. When evaluating patients with history of recent travel, it is important to consider communicable diseases that are endemic to the areas visited, as well as multiple disease aetiologies for complicated and refractory cases.