Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hyponatremia and its association with severity and species of malaria. Methods: This is a prospective study, done at Father Muller Charitable Hospital Mangalore, in Karnataka, India. Serum sodium and parasite counts were estimated in all positive cases of malaria patients under 15 years admitted in hospital between August 2010 to July 2012. Data regarding all positive cases of malaria under 15 years admitted in hospital between Jan 2010 to June 2011 were obtained. Data was analysed by Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and student t test. P value less than 0.05 was taken significant. Results: A total of 60 patients with malaria who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled for study. Plasmodium vivax was the common species causing malaria (53.3%). Hyponatremia was reported in 39 (62%) patients. Of the 39 cases, 2 (3%) patients had severe hyponatremia, 19 (31.67%) patients had moderate hyponatremia, whereas 18 (30%) patients had mild hyponatremia on admission respectively. Mean sodium for falciparum malaria (131.03依4.31) mEq/L cases was significantly lower than that of vivax malaria cases [(134.2依3.3) mEq/L, t=2.20, P=0.029]. Severity of hyponatremia increased with severity of infection. Conclusions: Hyponatremia is common in children with malaria and its severity increases with severity of infection. It’s more common and more severe in falciparum malaria than vivax malaria.

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