Hematological parameters of malaria infected adult patients in Raya Alamata Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia.

Abstract Background: Hematological changes are the most common complications encountered in malaria and they play a major role in malaria pathology. Hematological changes like red blood cells, platelets and leukocytes have been observed in patients with malaria. Therefore, this study aimed to compare hematological parameters of malaria infected adult patients in Alamata Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia from February 01- April 30, 2019. Methods: Comparative cross sectional study was used to compare the hematological parameters on a total of 238 study participants, consisting of 119 malaria infected patients and 119 malaria negative controls at Raya Alamata Hospital. Malaria diagnosis was done based on thick and thin blood films microscopy. Hematological parameters were determined by using an automated, DiRUi BCC/3000B hematology analyzer. Malaria parasite density was determined by counting the asexual parasites against 200 WBCs, and then calculated by using the standard formula. Data for the different hematological parameters were expressed as mean (±SD). Independent t-test was used for comparison the hematological parameters between the two groups. Binary logistic regression model was constructed for categorical dependent variables to see associations between predictors and outcomes. Results: In current study parameters like red blood cells count, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, platelets count, and eosinophil counts were significantly lowered in malaria-infected patients than the controls. The prevalence of anemia and thrombocytopenia in malaria patients was 39.5% and 56.3%, respectively. Being female and malaria parasitaemia were found significantly associated with thrombocytopenia. The odds of developing thrombocytopenia with high malaria parasitaemia were 8.4 times more likely develop thrombocytopenia.Conclusion: Anemia and thrombocytopenia were the two common hematological abnormalities seen in malaria patients. The platelet count during malaria infection was inversely correlated with the parasitaemia. Malaria patients should be checked for the presence of hematological abnormalities such as anemia and have to be managed for those abnormalities. Keywords: Malaria, Malaria parasitaemia, Hematological parameters, Ethiopia