Table 2.
The clinical manifestations of patients with presumptive malaria according to HIV status
| Verified malaria | Rejected malaria diagnosis | All | |||||
| HIV+ | HIV- | Total* | HIV+ | HIV- | Total* | ||
| Total, n | 12 | 8 | 23 | 20 | 2 | 28 | 51 |
| Median age, years (n) | 30 (11) | 39 (8) | 34 (23) | 32 (20) | 52 (2) | 32 (28) | 34 (51) |
| Female sex, n (%) | 5 (42) | 4 (50) | 9 (39) | 10 (50) | 0 | 12 (43) | 21 (41) |
| Median symptom duration, days (n) | 7 (8) | 3 (7) | 7 (17) | 7 (1) | |||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| Vomiting | 5 (42) | 7 (88) | 12 (52) | 12 (60) | 0 (0) | 13 (46) | 25 (49) |
| Diarrhoea | 5 (42) | 0 (0) | 5 (22) | 5 (25) | 0 (0) | 7 (25) | 12 (24) |
| Headache † | 3 (25) | 4 (50) | 8 (35) | 0 (0) | 1 (50) | 1 (4) | 9 (18) |
| Arthralgia | 1 (8) | 3 (38) | 5 (22) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (10) |
| Dyspnoea | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (50) | 1 (4) | 1 (2) |
| Loss of weight | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (25) | 0 (0) | 5 (18) | 6 (12) |
| Abdominal pain | 1 (8) | 1 (13) | 2 (9) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (4) |
| Cough | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | 2 (9) | 8 (40) | 0 (0) | 8 (18) | 7 (14) |
| Convulsions | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (10) | 1 (50) | 4 (14) | 4 (8) |
| Fever>4 weeks | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (10) | 0 (0) | 2 (7) | 2 (4) |
| Temperature>38.5°C | 7 (58) | 6 (75) | 13 (57) | 10 (50) | 2 | 15 (54) | 28 (55) |
| BP < 90 mmHg | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | 4 (20) | 1 (50) | 6 (21) | 7 (14) |
| Heart rate >100/min | 3 (25) | 1 (13) | 5 (22) | 10 (50) | 0 (0) | 10 (36) | 15 (29) |
| Respiratory rate >20/min | 4 (33) | 0 (0) | 5 (22) | 8 (40) | 1 (50) | 9 (32) | 14 (27) |
| Jaundice | 2 (17) | 1 (13) | 3 (13) | 2 (10) | 0 (0) | 2 (7) | 5 (10) |
| Mental confusion | 4 (33) | 1 (13) | 5 (22) | 4 (20) | 1 (50) | 8 (29) | 13 (25) |
| Cachexia | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | 2 (10) | 0 (0) | 2 (7) | 3 (6) |
| Neck stiffness | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 7 (35) | 0 (0) | 7 (25) | 7 (14) |
| Hepatomegaly | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | 1 (2) |
| Splenomegaly | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (5) | 0 (0) | 1 (4) | 1 (2) |
| WBC<4 or >12 × 109/L | 3 (25) | 1 (13) | 5 (22) | 7 (35) | 1 (50) | 9 (32) | 14 (27) |
| Platelets<100 × 109/L | 6 (50) | 5 (63) | 13 (57) | 6 (30) | 1 (50) | 8 (29) | 21 (41) |
| Creatinine>115 μmol/L | 6 (50) | 2 (25) | 9 (39) | 11 (55) | 1 (50) | 13 (46) | 22 (43) |
| Blood glucose<2.2 mmol/L | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (10) | 1 (50) | 3 (11) | 3 (6) |
| HIV Stage A | 0 (0) | NA | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | NA | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| HIV Stage B | 2 (17) | NA | 2 (9) | 1 (5) | NA | 1 (4) | 3 (6) |
| HIV Stage C | 7 (58) | NA | 7 (30) | 11 (55) | NA | 11 (39) | 18 (35) |
| MPS positive | 12 (100) | 8 (100) | 23 (100) | 5 (25) | 0 (0) | 5 (18) | 28 (55) |
| Fatal outcome | 1 (8) | 1 (13) | 2 (7) | 4 (20) | 0 (0) | 5 (18) | 7 (14) |
BP systolic arterial blood pressure, WBC white blood cells. *Some of the totals don't add up, as some patients with unknown HIV result were included in the total, but not in the rest of the table. † Headache was significantly associated with a "verified malaria" diagnosis (p = 0.007)