The effect of Plasmodium falciparum malaria on platelet counts in patients attending the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

This prospective cross-sectional study was aimed at assessing the effect of Plasmodium falciparum malaria on platelet count among various categories of hospital patients in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria. A total of six hundred and ten (610) patients participated in the study and three hundred and sixty (360) non-malaria infected patients were used as controls. The prevalence rate of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in this study was 40.98%. The mean platelet count of 113 ± 57 x 109/L observed in the malaria infected patients was found to be significantly lower than the mean count of 168 ± 48 x 109/L in the non-infected subjects (controls) (t = 4.867,