Hamza Ali Khan, Zakirullah Khan, Saleem Iqbal, Sadaqat Ali, Shah Umam, Ghulam Abbas.
Frequency of thrombocytopenia in patient with malaria presented to khyber teaching hospital Peshawar, Pakistan.
J Med Sci Jan ;28(4):337-40.

Background: Malaria is a fatal infectious disease which is associated with numerous complications and has a profound effects on the blood indices. Thrombocytopenia is frequently reported among the patients with malaria though it is not an indication of the severity of the disease. Objective: The aim of the current study is to observe the hematological changes particularly the incidence of thrombocytopenia among the patients with malaria presented to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Medicine Department of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from August 2018 to February 2019. A total of 95 malaria parasite (MP) positive cases were included in the study. The patients` demographic details and the hematological variables were recorded. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0. Results: Among 95 MP positive patients, 88 had Plasmodium vivax infection while 7 patients were suffering from Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Moreover, 89 (93.6%) were found to have thrombocytopenia with majority having grade 1 thrombocytopenia (52.6%). while leukopenia was seen among 29.5% of the cases and only 5.3% presented with leukocytosis. The level of Hb was normal in majority of the cases and only 27.4% had Hb<11.5g/dl. Conclusion: Thrombocytopenia is a common hematological finding among the patients suffering from malaria. Our study findings favor the diagnostic implications of thrombocytopenia as an indicator of acute malaria.

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