A Comparison of the Relationship between Malaria Parasite Density and Some Haematological Parameters in Malaria Infected Male and Female Subjects

This study compared the relationship between the parasite density and some hematological parameters in malaria infected male and female subjects in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. A total of 226 malaria positive subjects (136 males and 90 females), aged between 1-70 years were recruited. QBC haematological analysis, QBC malaria parasite specie identification and quantification and thin blood film for differential leucocyte count were used. The mean values of the haematological parameters in each quartile of parasite densities were determined. Regression analysis was employed to model the mathematical relationship between parasite density and haematological parameters. In malaria positive males and females, neutrophil count had a negative exponential and polynomial relationship respectively with the parasite density. The relationship between lymphocyte count, monocyte count and eosinophil count and parasite density was logarithmic in both sexes. The best fitting regression model for total white blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and mean cell haemoglobin concentration and parasite density in both sexes was a linear model. Platelet count and parasite density in both sexes had a power relationship. The findings have demonstrated that whereas some of the relationships were not sex dependent, some were sex dependent.