Thrombocytopenia as a Diagnostic Marker for Identifying Patients with Malaria in Endemic Regions

Malaria can present in a myriad of hematological alterations with thrombocytopenia being one of those. It is typically diagnose by the microscopic examination of the blood using blood film. The aim of the present study was to screen all patients with thrombocytopenia for the prevalence of malaria during the seasonal malaria. The patients with thrombocytopenia were included in the study. A total of 389 cases having thrombocytopenia were identified; malaria was seen in 21.8%. Among the conformed malarial patients, 63.5% Plasmodium falciparum and 36.5% Plasmodium vivax was seen. Further it was observed that 91.7% of thrombocytopenic patients with malaria were also had some degree of anemia as well. Taken together, a total of 20 patients had pancytopenia with more 41.9% cases with P. vivax and 13% with P. falciparum. Based on our findings, we advocate the use of thrombocytopenia as an important marker in the diagnosis of malaria; and in endemic regions patients with thrombocytopenia should be screened for possible malaria.