Hematological parameters of malaria patients in Southern Pakistani population

Objective: To study hematological parameters like white Blood Cell Count, hemoglobin and platelets in all cases of malaria reporting to Combined Military Hospital Hyderabad to evaluate their association with malarial infection. Study Design: Descriptive Study Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Hyderabad over a period of two years from January 2012 to January 2014 Material and Methods: A total of 2799 patients of were referred to Pathology Department for Malaria Parasite, of which 1294 tested positive for malaria by microscopy of thick and thin peripheral smears stained by Leishmann’s stain. Hematological parameters like white blood cell, platelet counts and hemoglobin levels were measured by Hematology analyzer Sysmex KX 21 in blood samples drawn in EDTA tubes within half an hour of sampling. Results were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Patients with thrombocytopenia were divided into three groups: Group 1: Mild thrombocytopenia: 4 x 10 9 /l while for hemoglobin also two groups were formed. Group 1: Hb 150x10 9 /l, while 1051(82%) cases of malaria had some degree of low platelet count. Out of these 714(68%) patients had platelet count in the range of 100-150x10 9 /l, 265(25%) cases of malaria had moderate thrombocytopenia between 50-100x10 9 /l. Severe thrombocytopenia of 4x10 9 /l and 395(31%) having 10g/dl probably because 80% were males while the rest 86(7%) had Hb of <10 g/dl. Conclusions: Thrombocytopenia (<150x10 9 /l) and low leukocyte count(<4x10 9 /l) is a frequent finding in the laboratory diagnosis of malaria and its observation can increase the probability of finding MP on peripheral smear before performance of expensive tests to rule out other febrile illnesses so that prompt treatment can be initiated. However, further studies are required to understand the relevance of leucopenia and anemia with thrombocytopenia in P. vivax malaria. Keywords: Plasmodium vivax , Thrombocytopenia, Malaria.