Table 3.

Comparison of different parasite densities between estimated by assumed and automated WBC counts in different age groups.

	<5 years		≥5 years
Assumed WBC/µl	Median Parasite density (/µl)	P*	Median Parasite density (/µl)	P*
11,000	5,308	< 0.0001	3,479	< 0.0001
10,000	4,825	0.0001	3,163	< 0.0001
9,000	4,343	0.0072	2,847	< 0.0001
8,000	3,860	0.7454	2,530	< 0.0001
7,000	3,378	0.1574	2,214	< 0.0001
6,000	2,895	0.0010	1,898	0.0117
5,500	2,654	0.0003	1,740	0.7353
5,000	2,413	0.0001	1,582	0.0016
4,000	1,930	< 0.0001	1,265	< 0.0001
Automated count	3,630	-	1,760	-

^*P: Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test between the median parasite density derived from an assumed WBC count (4,000–11,000) and that from an automated WBC counter. The most appropriate WBC counts for the two age groups were highlighted in bold.