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Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics of imported malaria from Africa, and the correlation between blood lipids and disease severity.Methods:The clinical data of 172 imported malaria patients from Africa were collected from January 1, 2018 to January 31, 2021 in Guangzhou Eighth People′s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University. The general conditions, clinical symptoms, laboratory tests, treatment and prognosis of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. The independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test and binary multivariate logistic regression analysis were used for statistical analysis when appropriate. Results:A total of 172 patients were divided into 39 severe cases and 133 non-severe cases in this study. The main infection species was Plasmodium falciparum, with a total of 153 cases (89.0%), and the severe cases were all falciparum malarias. Compared with the non-severe group, the white blood cell count and triacylglycerol level were increased in the severe group.The differences were both statistically significant ( Z=2.397 and 4.368, respectively; both P<0.05). The hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelet count, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein A (ApoA)Ⅰ and ApoAⅠ/apolipoprotein B (ApoB) were significantly decreased in the severe group. The differences were all statistically significant ( Z=-4.473, -4.464, -4.750, -4.826, -5.488 and -4.419, respectively; all P<0.01). The total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were also reduced in the severe group. The differences were both statistically significant ( t=3.817 and 5.285, respectively; both P<0.01). The area under receiver operator characteristic curve of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triacylglycerol, ApoAⅠ, and ApoAⅠ/ApoB were 0.754, 0.727, 0.730, 0.789 and 0.733, respectively (all P<0.01). When the Youden index was at its maximum, the best cut-off value of ApoAⅠ was 0.535 g/L with sensitivity of the prediction for severe malaria of 79.5% and the specificity of 68.4%. ApoAⅠ had independent predictive value for severe malaria (odds ratio ( OR)=0.013, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 0.002 to 0.086, P<0.01), and stratified according to the best cut-off value, the risk of severe malaria when ApoA Ⅰ<0.535 g/L was 8.396 times of ApoA Ⅰ≥0.535 g/L ( OR=8.396, 95% CI 3.557 to 19.820, P<0.01). The case fatality rate of severe malaria was 2.6%(1/39). Conclusions:The imported malaria patients from Africa are mainly infected with Plasmodium falciparum and the case fatality rate of severe malaria is high. The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triacylglycerol, ApoAⅠ, ApoAⅠ/ApoB of blood lipids show higher predictive value for severe malaria, among which, ApoAⅠ has independent predictive value for severe malaria. Changes in blood lipids will help to identify severe malaria as early as possible, improve the cure rate, and reduce the risk of death.
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Approximately 15-20% of COVID-19 patients will develop severe pneumonia, about 10 % of which will die if not properly managed. Earlier discrimination of the potential severe patients basing on routine clinical and laboratory changes and commencement of prophylactical management will not only save their lives but also mitigate the otherwise overwhelmed health care burden. In this retrospective investigation, the clinical and laboratory features were collected from 125 COVID-19 patients, who were classified into mild (93 cases) or severe (32 cases) groups according to their clinical outcomes after 3 to 7-days post-admission. The subsequent analysis with single-factor and multivariate logistic regression methods indicated that 17 factors on admission differed significantly between mild and severe groups, but that only comorbid with underlying diseases, increased respiratory rate (>24/min), elevated C-reactive protein (CRP >10mg/liter), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH >250U/liter), were independently associated with the later disease development. Finally, we evaluated their prognostic values with the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis and found that the above four factors could not confidently predict the occurrence of severe pneumonia individually, but that a combination of fast respiratory rate and elevated LDH significantly increased the predictive confidence (AUC= 0.944, sensitivity= 0.941, and specificity= 0.902). A combination consisting of 3- or 4-factors could further increase the prognostic value. Additionally, measurable serum viral RNA post-admission independently predicted the severe illness occurrence. In conclusion, a combination of general clinical characteristics and laboratory tests could provide high confident prognostic value for identifying potential severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients. SummaryWith our successful experience of treating COVID-19 patients, we retrospectively found that routine clinical features could reliably predict severe pneumonia development, thus provide quick and affordable references for physicians to save the otherwise fatal patients with the limited medical resource.