Introduction: This study was a retrospective case series over one year.
Objectives: The purpose was to review the clinical presentation, travel history, laboratory findings and outcome of Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
Patients and methods: The study was conducted in the medical wards of Dr. George Mukhari Hospital, a teaching hospital in South Africa that serves mainly black patients. Fifty-nine patients were evaluated. The mean age was 34 years. Twenty-three patients (39%) had strictly defined severe malaria. Ninety-eight percent acquired Plasmodium falciparum in Sub-Saharan Africa. The death rate was 1.7%. Virtually all patients had a travel history obtained in the emergency department and the diagnosis was confirmed in all cases within 24 hours of admission.
Results: In our study population, the differences in the percent parasitemia, platelet count, haemoglobin and bilirubin were not statistically significant between the cases with severe and those with less severe malaria.
Conclusions: Plasmodium falciparum malaria should not carry a high mortality in adequately equipped centers, when the diagnosis is made early and therapy is instituted promptly.