Prevalence of Asymptomatic Malaria in Relation to Haematological Parameters among Children Attending General Hospital, Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia (APFP) has been reported to be highly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region heavily burdened by malaria; yet, the impact of APFP on the haematological reference values have not yet been established in Minna. This study was therefore designed to evaluate the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria in relation to haematological parameters among children attending General Hospital, Minna, Nigeria. After informed consent and clinical examination, blood samples were obtained from the participants for malaria diagnosis and a full blood count. The diagnosis of malaria was confirmed by thick and thin films stained with Giemsa's for malaria parasite and Complete Blood Counts (CBCs) were performed using an automated Abacus Junior machine. Of the 201 subjects sampled, the Age group 1-5years showed the highest prevalence of 24 (13.82%) for the symptomatic patients, followed by the age group 6-10years 3 (2.32%).The least prevalence of 1(2.86%) for the symptomatic patient was in the age group above 11years. The male symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects have higher gender prevalence characteristics of malaria parasite 20 (14.49%) than the female 8 (12.70%), though this difference was not significant (P>0.05). The Chi-square analysis between the groups showed association among the gender with a value of 0.4919 at 5% level of significance. Patients with symptomatic parasitaemia tended to have significantly (P<0.05) lower lymphocyte percentage (25.15±2.45), Red blood cell count (RBC) (4.14±0.21), Haemoglobin (HB)(8.81±0.44), Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH) (23.97±1.57) compared to that of asymptomatic and non-infected subjects. Corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), Red Cell Distribution Width (RDWC), Platelet Volume (MPV) and Platelet Distribution Width showed no significant difference (P>0.05). Platelet Count was, however, higher (269.57±6.93) significantly (P<0.05) in non-infected control group compared to that of symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects with reduced platelet counts (140.36±13.09 and 123.63±6.99), respectively. Gender prevalence characteristics showed significance (P<0.05) in platelet count (276.03±8.21, 255.88±12.72) in normal male and female subjects, respectively, compared to other groups. Among the malaria parasite density groups, least lymphocyte count (1.34±0.21) was found in 5001-10000mp/μl, symptomatic subjects. The mean Platelet Count was significantly lower in the asymptomatic density group compared to that of symptomatic malaria density group. This study confirms that haematological changes are frequent in asymptomatic plasmodial infection. Special attention should be applied when interpreting haematological parameters and evaluating immune responses in children living in malaria endemic area