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. 2013 Sep;67(3):220–230. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2013.04.013

Table 3.

Comparison of indicators of severity and parasite biomass in uncomplicated and severe malaria when hyperlactatemia redefined as lactate >4 mmol/L.*

Clinical manifestationa n (%) Age (years) GM (95%CI) Hemoglobin (g/dL) GM (95%CI) Platelets (×109/L)b GM (95%CI) Lactate (mmol/L)
GM (95%CI)
Parasitaemia (%) GM (95%CI) Parasite density (×105 /μL) GM (95%CI) Plasma PfHRP2 (ng/mL) GM (95%CI) Circulating parasite biomass (×1010/kg) GM (95%CI) Total parasite biomass (×1010/kg) GM (95%CI) Sequestered biomass (×1010/kg)c median (95%CI)
Uncomplicated 154 (52.0) 6.68 (6.06–7.36) 11.34 (11.04–11.66) 110.6 (99.2–123.4) 1.95 (1.84–2.07) 2.88 (2.40–3.46) 1.23 (1.02–1.49) 99.1 (82.0–119.6) 0.995 (0.83–1.20) 1.09 (0.90–1.33) 0.06 (−0.16 to 0.35)
Severe 142 (48.0) 4.29 (3.93–4.69)
P < 0.001
9.19 (8.79–9.60)
P < 0.001
64.5 (56.0–74.4)
P < 0.001
4.66 (4.17–5.21)
P < 0.001
7.46 (6.18–9.01)
P < 0.001
2.69 (2.24–3.22)
P < 0.001
231.4 (189.4–282.8)
P < 0.001
2.29 (2.09–3.14)
P < 0.001
2.92 (2.37–3.60)
P < 0.001
0.22 (−0.14 to 0.79)
P = 0.71
SNP 103 (34.8) 4.23 (3.81–4.70)
P < 0.001
8.92 (8.46–9.40)
P < 0.001
67.8 (57.0–80.6)
P < 0.001
6.04 (5.59–6.52)
P < 0.001
8.45 (6.84–10.4)
P < 0.001
3.00 (2.45–3.66)
P < 0.001
254.3 (196.9–328.3)
P < 0.001
2.56 (2.09–3.14)
P < 0.001
3.26 (2.49–4.25)
P < 0.001
0.40 (−0.09 to 0.92)
P = 0.39
LA 100 (33.8) 4.28 (3.84–4.75)
P < 0.001
8.97 (8.52–9.43)
P < 0.001
65.7 (55.1–78.3)
P < 0.001
6.22 (5.79–6.68)
P < 0.001
8.66 (6.99–10.7)
P < 0.001
3.10 (2.53–3.80)
P < 0.001
262.5 (202.0–341.3)
P < 0.001
2.63 (2.15–3.26)
P < 0.001
3.36 (2.55–4.41)
P < 0.001
0.36 (−0.09 to 1.01)
P = 0.45

GM, geometric mean; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval

*P value for comparison with the uncomplicated malaria group using the unpaired t-test on log10-transformed data, when n ≥ 3, unless specified otherwise. Only tests with P ≤ 0.029 have a false discovery rate of 5% or less using the Benjamini and Hochberg method to control for multiple comparisons and are considered significant (P value in bold type).

a

Severe malaria cases were considered together, or in subgroups: SNP, severe non-prostrated, and LA, hyperlactataemia.

b

Platelet count was not available for four subjects with prostration.

c

P values for comparison with the uncomplicated malaria group using the likelihood-ratio test when n > 5.