Indicators of fatal outcome in severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria: a study in a tertiary–care hospital in Thailand
Open Access
- 30 November 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Medknow in Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine
- Vol. 3 (11), 855-859
- https://doi.org/10.1016/s1995-7645(10)60206-4
Abstract
To illustrate the clinical features and investigate the indicators associated with a fatal outcome in adult patients with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bangkok, Thailand. We studied 202 adult malaria patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. A total of 43 clinical variables were identified by univariate and logistic regression analyses, to eliminate confounding factors. Regarding the statistical methods, only 6 variables-jaundice, cerebral malaria, metabolic acidosis, body mass index, initial respiratory rate, and white blood cell count-were significant indicators of death, with adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) of 15.2 (2.1-32.3), 4.3 (2.3-12.6), 3.3 (2.3-5.7), 2.4 (1.9-3.5), 2.2 (1.5-2.6), and 1.7 (1.2-3.1), respectively. Our study found that jaundice, cerebral malaria, metabolic acidosis, body mass index, initial respiratory rate and white blood cell count were indicators of fatal outcome in severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Further studies on the fatal indicators in severe malaria need to be compared with data from different geographical areas, to construct practical measures to address potentially fatal indicators in different settings.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- Moving toward hematological predictors of disease severity in malaria: Going with the flowAmerican Journal of Hematology, 2010
- A Simple Score to Predict the Outcome of Severe Malaria in AdultsClinical Infectious Diseases, 2010
- Risk factors for malaria deaths in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India: evidence for further actionMalaria Journal, 2009
- Dynamic changes in white blood cell counts in uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malariaParasitology International, 2008
- Predictive score of uncomplicated falciparum malaria patients turning to severe malariaThe Korean Journal of Parasitology, 2007
- Indicators of mortality in African adults with malariaTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2006
- White Blood Cell Counts and MalariaThe Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2005
- Blood and bone marrow changes in malariaBest Practice & Research Clinical Haematology, 2000
- Severe falciparum malariaTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2000
- Indicators of Life-Threatening Malaria in African ChildrenNew England Journal of Medicine, 1995