Platelet Alteration in Plasmodium vivax Malaria Patients in Thailand

Introduction: Malaria remains a global health problem. Malaria is often linked to thrombocytopenia as well as other hematological variations.

Objective: The aim of this study is to find the platelet changes in Plasmodium vivax malaria patients. This retrospective cross-sectional study included 204 malaria patients admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Bangkok, Thailand.

Results: Thrombocytopenia (<150x103/µl) was seen in 170(83.3%) patients with a mean (SD) of 101x103/µl (56.5). Mild (150x103/µl-50x103/µl), moderate (50x103/µl-20x103/µl) and severe (<20x103/µl) thrombocytopenia were seen in 141 (69.1%), 25 (12.2%) and 4 (2%) patients respectively. None of these patients with thrombocytopenia showed any sign of bleeding or required platelet transfusion.

Conclusion: This study showed thrombocytopenia as a classic feature of vivax malaria presenting more than 80% of cases. In patients with profoundly low thrombocyte counts there was no manifestation of bleeding nor was any platelet transfusion required.