Abstract

"Introduction: Malaria remains an overwhelming problem in the tropical developing countries. With varied manifestations it forms a DD to all acute febrile illness especially in endemic areas. With 70-100 million cases annually India is becoming the capital for all malarial problems of the world. Aim of the study: To study the varied manifestations in confirmed Malaria patients at a tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: This is a hospital based cross sectional study for one year – from 01 April 2011 to 31 March 2012 based on the hospital records (case sheets with demography profile, clinical features, investigations & treatment outcomes) Results: 369 fever patients either positive for Malaria parasite or without a definite diagnosis but responded to antimalarials were included in the study. 96 were smear positive-57 positive for PV, 33 were PF type and 06 were positive for both. Majority were males(64.50%) and belonged to the age group of 21-50 years(58.84%) and were admitted in post monsoon months (60.43%).Only 46.44% had classical symptoms and 53.56% had host of atypical manifestations with 12.50% of patients presented to various departments and were later referred to medicine department for smear positive status or fevers not responding to routine antibiotics. All the patients were treated mainly with Artemisinin group (ACT) and 91.87% patients recovered in 7-28 days. The mortality rate was 5.69%. Conclusion: The present study explains the importance of knowing the diverse modes of presentation of malaria. Early diagnosis, early referral and early initiation of ACT will decrease the mortality and morbidity. "

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