VIVAX MALARIA

Objective: To determine the frequency and severity of thrombocytopenia and toevaluate the variation of red cell distribution width (RDW) in patients with acute vivax malaria.Study Deign: Cross sectional descriptive case series study. Period: Six months. Setting:Liaquat University Hospital. Methods: All the patients with acute vivax malaria were evaluatedfor thrombocytopenia its severity and RDW. The data was analyzed in SPSS 10 and thefrequency and percentage was calculated. Results: Total 126 patients with acute vivax malariawere recruited, of which 88 were males and 38 were females. The mean age ±SD for male andfemale subjects was 44.76±6.83 and 40.83±7.42. The common features observed were fever31%, rigor 15% and combined features 14% (p=0.05). The thrombocytopenia was identified in86 patients of which 65 were males and 21 were females (p=0.04). The increased RDW wasobserved in 75 patients of which 57 were males and 18 were females (p=0.05). The bleedingwas detected in 56 and dyspnea and heart failure was found in 30 thrombocytopenic subjects(p=0.02). Regarding outcome 82 subjects were recovered while the 04 patients were expired(p=0.05). Regarding severity of thrombocytopenia majority 48.8% were in moderate categorywith male predominance (p=0.02). Conclusion: The thrombocytopenia and increased RDWwas observed in patients with acute vivax malaria.