1Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Sree Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur
2Professor, Department of Pathology, Sree Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur
*Corresponding author: Dr Geetha J P, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Sree Siddhartha Medical College, Agalakote, Tumkur
Online published on 1 October, 2015.
Acute febrile illnesses lead to a significant level of morbidity among the population. The major groups of these fever patients are the ones suffering from malaria, leptospirosis, dengue, chickungunya, scrub typhus, infectious mononucleosis, typhoid fever, acute human immunodeficiency virus conversion disease and so on. Presence of thrombocytopaenia helps clinicians in assessing the severity of the illness.
An attempt to determine the importance of thrombocytopenia in diagnosing etiologies of acute non-specific febrile illness.
About 130 Patients presenting with acute febrile illness without any obvious etiology of less than two-three weeks were selected. Clinical details were noted and then subjected for routine blood counts, Malaria, Widal and Dengue card test. Card test for Chikungunya and Liver function test was done in selected patients.
Of the 130 patients 33% of patients had Thrombocytopenia. In thrombocytopenia cases 41.86% patients were positive for Malaria, 32.55% of patients were reactive for dengue, 4.65% were reactive for chikungunya, No etiology was found in 20.94% cases. On statistical analysis there was a significant association of thrombocytopenia with Dengue and Malaria cases. No significant association was found with Widal and Chikungunya cases.
Finding of thrombocytopenia in patients with acute febrile illness raises the suspicion of Dengue and malaria infection. This simple and routine laboratory parameter may be used in addition to clinical findings to heighten the suspicion and prompt initiation of the therapy.
Acute febrile illness, thrombocytopenia, Dengue, malaria
