Clinical profile of plasmodium falciparum case presenting to a tertiary care teaching institution in south India: An observational study

Introduction: Malaria has been a major public health problem plaguing India for centuries and about 95% of Indian population is residing in malaria endemic regions. The proportion of the Pf % has gradually increased from 39% in 1995 to 65% in 2014. Periodic clinical profiling studies may help us in understanding of the changing pattern of the disease, complication rate and emerging drug resistance patterns, which can help the clinicians in making better and informed clinical decisions. Objective: To analyze the socio demographic and clinical profile of falciparum malaria cases and to study the incidence and profile of complications of falciparum malaria and their impact on hospital in falciparum malaria. Materials and methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in department of General Medicine of tertiary care hospital from November 2011 to November 2013 among patients diagnosed with falciparum malaria by smear. Patients aged above 18 years, both genders were included in the study. Results: Among 50 study participants, 42% belonged to 26 to 40 years of age and 76% of them were males. Fever was the most common clinical symptom reported by all the patients, followed by chills and rigors (90%), headache (74%), nausea and vomiting (46%). A total of 37 (74%) of the patients had complicated malaria, out of the 37, 17 (45.95%) had single complication and remaining 54.05% had multiple complications. Liver involvement manifested by jaundice was the most common complication seen 51.4% of the subjects, followed by cerebral malaria (48.6%) and anemia (45.9%). None of the patients reported mortality. Conclusions: Males in the age group of 26 to 40 years is the most common population group affected by plasmodium falciparum malaria. The proportion of complicated cases is very high (73%) in the study population and the most common complications include liver dysfunction and cerebral malaria. No mortality was reported in the study probably attributed to early diagnosis and effective management.