Warning signs in patients with imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria

Abstract

Introduction: Malaria is an acute potentially fatal febrile disease caused by parasites transmitted to humans through the bite of mosquitoes from the genus Anopheles. Most of the 214 million malaria cases reported in the year 2016 were children aged under five years from Sub-Saharan Africa. Mortality is due to the presence of complications which should be detected and treated timely.

Objective: Identify the presence of warning signs and determine their relationship to other clinical and laboratory variables.

Methods: A descriptive study was conducted of 47 adult patients with imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria admitted to the Medicine Department of Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute from January 2016 to December 2018. The data obtained were processed in a Microsoft Excel database and then analyzed with the statistical software SPSS 11.5.

Results: Male patients prevailed, with a mean age of 35.9 years. A significant relationship was found between warning signs and severity of the clinical status, hyperparasitemia, the supposed non-immune status of patients, thrombocytopenia and admission delay. An excellent response was obtained to treatment with combined quinine-based schemes.

Conclusions: Warning signs, among them thrombocytopenia, are important to prevent future complications.