THROMBOCYTOPENIA

Background: Malaria is usually associated with reduction in blood cell counts and mild to moderate thrombocytopenia is a common feature of falciparum infection. This study has been conducted to find out frequency and degree of thrombocytopenia in patients suffering from falciparum malaria at a tertiary care hospital of Abbottabad. Methods: It was a descriptive case-control study being carried out at Ayub teaching hospital and Northern institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Abbottabad over a period of ten months. All patients with acute febrile illness without localizing signs were considered for study. A total 250 patients having falciparum malaria diagnosed by peripheral blood film examination have been studied. Complete blood counts were performed by Automated Beckman Coulter Analyzer. Blood films were examined by clinical pathologist for plasmodium falciparum via light microscopy using oil-immersion lens. Results: Out of 250 patients, 155(62%) were females and 95(38%) males with M:F ratio of 1:1.5. Mean age was 36±1.2 years (range 17-58 years). Out of 250, 175(70%) had thrombocytopenia (p<0.05) while 75(30%) had normal platelet counts. Thus mild, moderate and severe thrombocytopenia had been observed in 121(48.4%), 41(16.4%) and 13(5.2%) respectively (p<0.05). Fever appeared to be most common symptom observed in all patients (100%) followed by vomiting and nausea (88%). Anemia was the commonest sign present (80%) during our study. Conclusions: We discovered high frequency of mild thrombocytopenia in falciparum malaria. Therefore, thrombocytopenia can be supportive in diagnosis of plasmodium falciparum infection.