Epidemiological profile of serious malaria in newborns and adolescents served in 2016 in a reference hospital in the State of Amapá, Amazon Region, Brazil

Abstract

The present study took into account not only Plasmodium falciparum infections that are commonly advocated as the main cause of severe malaria, but the complications related to Plasmodium vivax have been carefully described. The objective of this article was to identify the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory profile of severe malaria in patients attended at the Child and Adolescent Hospital in Macapá – Amapá. An epidemiological study, descriptive of retrospective character, was carried out. Data were obtained by consulting data bank for the year 2016. Severe malaria was considered in 47 cases. There were predominant male patients with 63.8% and the age group up to 5 years with 59.6% of the cases. As to the species, the most frequent infections were P. vivax with 72% in relation to P. falciparum with 28% of cases. The months with the greatest number of hospitalizations were September and November, both with 17%. The main clinical manifestations were: fever, pallor and cough. The conditions that indicated gravity that most occurred: vomiting 87%, jaundice 23%, dyspnoea and age <1 year both with 21%. Haematological examinations showed that 91% of the patients had red blood cells below the reference values and 100% of the cases had low hemoglobin and hematocrit; thrombocytopenia was observed in 72% of the cases. Altered results of biochemical dosages of major clinical importance were: urea, transaminases, glycyme and C-reactive protein. The identification of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data of severe malaria contributes to the early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of the disease.