Biblioteca Virtual en Salud

Background:

India is a hyper-endemic zone for malaria. We need tests which can be done easily and are cost effective to assess the severity of the disease and to help in prognostication. CRP is one such investigation which can be used. Aims And

Objectives:

We carried out this prospective study to find the correlation between the level of CRP and the complications in patients of P.vivax and P. falciparum malaria. Material and

Methods:

Level of C- reactive protein, was measured in 227 patients of P.vivax and P. falciparum malaria, admitted in GMERS medical college Gotri, Vadodara. It was then compared with single and multiple complications as well as with the duration of hospital stay in both vivax and falciparum patients.Statistical analysis was done using Chi-Square test, unpaired T-test and ROC curve.

Results:

Out of 227 patients,105(46.2%) had P.vivax and 122(53.7%) had P. falciparum malaria. CRP level was high in all patients. In vivax and falciparum patients with single complications, the mean CRP level was 24+11.6 mg/L and 24.1+6.2 mg/L respectively. Both types of malaria with multiple complications showed very high levels, 69.6 + 14.1mg/L in P.Falciparum and 71.6 + 6.5mg/L in P.vivax patients. Elevated CRP level (41.5 mg/L) also predicted a prolonged hospital stay.

Conclusion:

Our study corroborates the observation that high CRP level has a strong prognostic value for predicting the complications in malaria.