Thrombocytopenia as a Marker for Diagnosis of Malaria

Aim of the study: Malaria is major health problem in the tropics with significant high mortality and morbidity.Malaria is usually associated with reduced blood cell counts & mild to moderate thrombocytopenia which is a common association of malaria. The cause of thrombocytopenia is poorly understood, but the immune-mediated lysis, sequestration in the spleen and dyspoietic processes in the marrow with diminished platelet production have all been postulated. This study was conducted to coorrelate thrombocytopenia in the patients suffering from acute malaria. A finding of thrombocytopenia should increase the suspicion of malaria and lead to performance of more specific tests, including multiple peripheral smears and ELISA for parasitespecific antigen.Hence we conducted this study to assess the occurrence of thrombocytopenia in hospitalized patients of malaria and to correlate its severity with the type of malaria. Design : A total of 200 subjects were included in this study group .These patients were having high fever , intermittent in nature associated with chills and rigors,with or without splenomegaly and responded only to antimalarial drugs.Thrombocytopenia count was done by fully automated hematological analyser. Result: Normal platelet count was observed in about 20% of cases who responded only to antimalarials while it reduced in about 80% of cases presented with fever.Thrombocyte count was 77,869 cells/μl (mean).Thrombocytopenia was present in both (P.falciparum > P. vivax) types of malaria.