Maltese cross appearance in peripheral blood smear is seen in which of the following infections?
Plasmodium falciparum
Babesia microti
Leishmania chagasi
Trypanosoma cruzi
In blood smears, Babesia spp. superficially resemble P. falciparum ring stages, but lack hemozoin pigment, exhibit greater pleomorphism, and form characteristic tetrads (Maltese cross), which are diagnostic, if found.
Miscellaneous