Vivax malaria; frequency, severity of thrombocytopenia and variation in red cell distribution width [RDW]

To determine the frequency and severity of thrombocytopenia and to evaluate the variation of red cell distribution width [RDW] in patients with acute vivax malaria. Cross sectional descriptive case series study. Six months. Liaquat University Hospital. All the patients with acute vivax malaria were evaluated for thrombocytopenia its severity and RDW. The data was analyzed in SPSS 10 and the frequency and percentage was calculated. Total 126 patients with acute vivax malaria were recruited, of which 88 were males and 38 were females. The mean age +/- SD for male and female subjects was 44.76 +/- 6.83 and 40.83 +/- 7.42. The common features observed were fever 31%, rigor 15% and combined features 14% [p=0.05]. The thrombocytopenia was identified in 86 patients of which 65 were males and 21 were females [p=0.04]. The increased RDW was observed in 75 patients of which 57 were males and 18 were females [p=0.05]. The bleeding was 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 category with male predominance [p=0.02]. The thrombocytopenia and increased RDW was observed in patients with acute vivax malaria