A study of clinical profile of malaria in a tertiary referral centre

Background & objectives: The incidence of malaria is on the raise in South Canara district of Karnataka in the recent years and there is not much information on malaria from this region. This study was undertaken to analyse and introspect the presentation of this disease in a tertiary referral centre. Methods: This retrospective case analysis was done on patients over the age group of 15 yr admitted with diagnosis of malaria to the Medical Department in this tertiary health institution situated in South Canara. The outpatient and inpatient records from September 2002 to August 2004 were retrieved and scrutinised using a prepared case sheet performa on the basis of patient’s demographic profile, clinical findings, investigations, treatment and complications. Results: A total of 314 patients were diagnosed and treated for malaria, of them 124 were treated as outpatients and 190 cases were managed as inpatients. Males (81%) outnumbered females (19%) and many were within the age group of 21–30 yr. The incidence of malaria increased from the month of June onwards coinciding the monsoon season. Plasmodium vivax was the major parasite type (52.54%), followed by P. falciparum (33.75%), mixed malarial infection (13.69%) and most of them received combination therapy. Hepatopathy was the most common complication and all the deaths were due to cerebral malaria. Interpretation & conclusion: Malaria is responsible for major health concern in this region, particularly in rainy season and is found to affect comparatively the younger adult population. P. vivax was the major parasite type causing malaria and most of the complications were due to P. falciparum. Key words Combination therapy – hepatopathy – malaria – Plasmodium vivax – seasonal trends – South Canar