Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population
| Parametera |
Clinical groups |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SM (N = 67) | UM (N = 67) | Matched comparisonc | P | |
|
Demographic data | ||||
| Age (months) |
28 (16, 39) |
29 (15, 38) |
- |
- |
| Males, n (%) |
42 (63) |
42 (63) |
- |
- |
|
Physical findings |
|
|
|
|
| Temperature (°C) |
38.6 (37.9, 39.2) |
38 (36.4, 39.5) |
0.3 (−0.7, 2.2) |
0.227 |
| Weight (kg) |
11.1 (8.9, 13) |
10.9 (9.6, 12.8) |
0 (−1.6, 1.2) |
1.000 |
| Malnutrition, n (%) |
5 (8) |
2 (3) |
4 (6) |
0.453 |
| Oral candidiasis, n (%) |
1 (1) |
1 (1) |
2 (3) |
1.000 |
| Hepatomegaly, n (%) |
13 (19) |
2 (3) |
13 (19) |
0.005 |
| Splenomegaly, n (%) |
35 (52) |
12 (18) |
35 (52) |
<0.001 |
| N° of days with symptomsb |
1 (1, 3) |
1 (1, 2) |
0 (0, 1) |
0.192 |
|
Laboratory parameters | ||||
| Parasitaemia by qPCR, (×103/μL) |
34.2 (7.5, 151.3) |
13.3 (1.7, 51.6) |
2.1 (−1.0, 21.8) |
0.087 |
| Parasitaemia by microscopy, (×103/μL) |
40.4 (17.3, 99.3) |
34.7 (11.5, 71.3) |
12.9 (−10.3, 58.3) |
0.036 |
| Multiplicity of infection |
3 (2, 4) |
3 (3, 4) |
0 (−1, 2) |
0.070 |
| Packed cell volume (%) |
26 (16, 31) |
31 (28, 34) |
−6 (−15, 0) |
<0.001 |
| Platelets (×109/L) |
117 (70, 185) |
145 (92, 192) |
−38 (−110, 43) |
0.043 |
| Glucose (mM) |
5.8 (4.6, 7) |
5.8 (5.3, 6.9) |
−0.1 (−1.6, 1.2) |
0.702 |
| White blood cells (×109/L) |
10 (6.8, 12.7) |
9.1 (7.2, 11.5) |
0.7 (−2.8, 3.5) |
0.110 |
| Lymphocytes (%) |
35.5 (24.7, 46) |
40.6 (30.2, 50.8) |
−7.6 (−19.0, 9.1) |
0.008 |
| Neutrophils (%) |
56.9 (42.9, 67.1) |
53.7 (36.9, 65.3) |
5.8 (−5.1, 10.2) |
0.043 |
| Creatinin (U/L) |
34 (30, 38) |
34 (30, 39) |
−1 (−6, 6) |
0.470 |
| Bilirubin (μM) |
24 (14, 37) |
13 (10, 21) |
10 (−1, 23) |
<0.001 |
| ALTc (U/L) |
31.5 (19, 39) |
28 (1, 36) |
4 (−11, 15) |
0.376 |
| Lactate (mM) |
3.8 (2.3, 5.1) |
2.3 (1.9, 3.2) |
1.0 (−0.3, 2.4) |
0.001 |
|
SM symptoms | ||||
| Prostration, n (%) |
50 (75) |
|
|
|
| ARD c, n (%) |
34 (51) |
|
|
|
| Severe anaemia, n (%) |
22 (33) |
|
|
|
| Multiple seizures, n (%) |
19 (28) |
|
|
|
| Hypoglycaemia, n (%) |
5 (8) |
|
|
|
| Cerebral malaria, n (%) |
3 (5) |
|
|
|
| N° of SM symptoms, n (%): |
|
|
|
|
| One |
23 (34) |
|
|
|
| Two |
27 (40) |
|
|
|
| ≥ three | 17 (25) | |||
a Presented as medians (inter-quartile range), except when indicated. qPCR, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ARD, acidosis and/or respiratory distress.
b Fever, cough or vomits.
c Matched comparison reports the median difference (inter-quartile range) between SM and UM values for continuous variables or the number (%) of divergent pairs for categorical variables. P-values calculated using McNemar´s or Sign test for matched pairs. All comparisons were corrected by the Monte Carlo permutation test (1000 random permutations).