Table 1. Characteristics of the study subpopulations.
| P. vivax malaria patients | HBV patients |
healthy controls |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | asymptomatic | symptomatic | HBV coinfected | ||
| N | 145* | 179 | 28 | 29 | 165* |
| Male–no. (%) | 63 (45.65) | 100 (55.87) | 16 (57.14) | 16 (55.17) | 72 (47.37) |
| Age–yrs. a | |||||
| Median | 43 | 32 | 30.5 | 38 | 39 |
| Interquartile interval | 34–51.25 | 24–47 | 22.5–45.75 | 22.5–45.75 | 25–51 θ |
| *Previous malaria episodes b | |||||
| Median | 17 | 5 | 18 | 12 | 13 |
| Interquartile interval | 13–20 | 1–11 | 10.25–25 | 10.25–14 | 10–18 θ |
| Previous HBV–no. (%) | 18 (13.04) | 38 (21.23) | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| Years resident in the area–no. (%) c | |||||
| <2yrs. | 25 (18.11) | 52 (29.05) | 2 (7.14) | 3 (10.35) | 39 (25.66) |
| 3-10yrs. | 14 (10.15) | 46 (25.70) | 3 (10.72) | 4 (13.79) | 16 (10.52) |
| >10yrs. | 99 (71.74) | 81 (45.25) | 23 (82.14) | 22 (75.86) | 97 (63.82) |
| Parasitemia (count/μL) a,d | __ | __ | |||
| Median | 0 | 6324 | 753 | ||
| Interquartile interval | 0–32 | 913.5–60,623 | 444.3–4,262 | ||
Frequency data were compared using the chi-square test or the Fisher’s exact test. Continuous variables were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test or the Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparisons test.
*From 165 and 145 subjects recruited as endemic controls and asymptomatic P. vivax patients, respectively, only 152 and 138 had all the epidemiological data available. One symptomatic vivax malaria and 17 HBV patients could not recall the number of previous malaria episodes. HBSAg, HBeAg, total anti-HBS, total anti-HBc, anti-HBc IgM and anti-HBe IgG were screened, and no acute HBV infection was detected.
a = Differences were significant between asymptomatic against other P. vivax infected patients.
b = Differences were significant between symptomatic against other P. vivax infected patients.
c = Differences were significant between the proportions.
d = Differences between symptomatic vivax malaria and coinfected were significant on Mann-Whitney U test analysis.
θ = Differences were significant between controls and both symptomatic or asymptomatic vivax malaria patients.