Clinical profile of severe malaria: Study from a tertiary care center in north India

One hundred and sixty patients having clinical features of severe malaria reported during monsoon season-August-October 2010 at this tertiary care center of north India. Of these 110 (68.75 %) had Plasmodium vivax infection, 30 (18.75 %) were infected with P. falciparum and 20 (12.5 %) had co-infection due to P. vivax and P. falciparum. The diagnosis was made using Rapid Card Test and was confirmed by peripheral smear examination of thick and thin films. Several complications such as acute kidney injury, jaundice, severe anemia, metabolic acidosis, shock, hyperpyrexia, hypoglycemia, generalized tonic-clonic convulsions etc. were found to be more prevalent in patients with P. vivax infection. These symptoms were until recently known to be associated with falciparum malaria. © 2012 Indian Society for Parasitology.