that 32 out of our 33 patients had developed thrombocytopenia before any other drug was given. The one patient who had a haemorrhage on the fifth day of treatment received Darafan on Day 0, and even he had had thrombocytopenia on admission. Therefore, it is concluded that drugs played no part in the pathogenesis of thrombocytopenia in these patients. ConclusionThrombocytopenia is the rule in the acute attack of malaria, and it is not associated with depletion of other coagulation factors in the mild case. We suggest that the platelets are removed at an excessive rate from the circulating blood, probably by the reticuloendothelial system, and that they are in some way altered immunologically, which assists in their removal.It must be realized that thrombocytopenia can occur in malaria in the absence of intravascular coagulation, and that heparin should be withheld in such cases until other evidence is produced of disordered coagulation, when its use might then be justified.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract