Changes in Haematological Parameters in Plasmodium falciparum Infected Malaria Patients in an Urban Slum of Lagos, Nigeria

The present study was carried to determine the changes in haematological parameters in P. falciparum infected patients in Ajeromi Ifelodun area of Lagos, Nigeria. Seventy (70) human subjects comprising of 50 P. falciparum malarial infected and 20 non-infected (control) subjects between 10-60 years were selected for this study. RDT test and microscopy were carried out to ascertain the presence of P. falciparum. They were grouped based on age criteria and level of parasitaemia. This work was carried out in the Department of Biochemistry, Nigeria Institute for Medical Research Laboratory, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria between August 2016 and January 2017. Blood samples were collected for the determination of P. falciparum, level of parasitaemia and haematological parameters. Haematological parameters were determined using a Coulter A-T Pierce haematology analyzer (Beckman Coulter, Inc. Fullerton, CA, USA), P. falciparum was determined by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and Microscopy. There was a significant increase in the mean level of total white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells distribution width (RDW), and a significant decrease in the mean level of haematocrit (HCT), haemoglobin (HGB), red blood cells (RBC), and platelets (PLT) in the malaria infected patients than in the controls (p<0.05). There was also a higher malaria parasite density among malaria infected patients for ages above 20 and a lower malaria parasite density for ages below 20 in this study. The findings of this study show that infection with P. falciparum produces changes in haematological parameters in those infected and tested positive for malaria. The most commonly affected parameters are haemoglobin, haematocrit, white blood cells and platelet count.