Hyponatremia in malaria-experience in tertiary hospital from India

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hyponatremia and its association with severity and\udspecies of malaria.\udMethods: This is a prospective study, done at Father Muller Charitable Hospital Mangalore,\udin Karnataka, India. Serum sodium and parasite counts were estimated in all positive cases\udof malaria patients under 15 years admitted in hospital between August 2010 to July 2012. Data\udregarding all positive cases of malaria under 15 years admitted in hospital between Jan 2010 to\udJune 2011 were obtained. Data was analysed by Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and student t\udtest. P value less than 0.05 was taken significant.\udResults: A total of 60 patients with malaria who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled for\udstudy. Plasmodium vivax was the common species causing malaria (53.3%). Hyponatremia\udwas reported in 39 (62%) patients. Of the 39 cases, 2 (3%) patients had severe hyponatremia, 19\ud(31.67%) patients had moderate hyponatremia, whereas 18 (30%) patients had mild hyponatremia\udon admission respectively. Mean sodium for falciparum malaria (131.03依4.31) mEq/L cases was\udsignificantly lower than that of vivax malaria cases [(134.2依3.3) mEq/L, t=2.20, P=0.029]. Severity of\udhyponatremia increased with severity of infection.\udConclusions: Hyponatremia is common in children with malaria and its severity increases with\udseverity of infection. It’s more common and more severe in falciparum malaria than vivax malaria