Laboratory predictors of severe falciparum malaria reported in the paper:
(1) thrombocytopenia < 20,000 per µL
(2) white blood cell count > 6,500 per µL
(3) hyponatremia (serum sodium < 131 mmol/L)
(4) elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) > 175 mg/L
(5) serum LDH > 750 U/L
The odds ratio for thrombocytopenia is 40. The odds ratios for hyponatremia and leukocytosis are around 10. The odds ratios for elevated CRP and LDH are 5 to 6.
X =
= (2.3 if sodium < 131) + (1.6 if CRP > 175) + (1.8 if LDH > 750) + (3.7 if thrombocytopenia) + (2.3 if leukocytes > 6500) - 6.1
probability of severe malaria =
= 1 / (1 + EXP((-1) * X))
Laboratory identifiers of severe malaria from the WHO criteria:
(1) hypoglycemia (whole blood glucose < 2.2 mmol/L or < 40 mg/dL)
(2) anemia (hematocrit < 20% with parasitemia > 100,000 per µL)
(3) renal failure with serum creatinine > 250 µmol/L (2.8 mg/dL)
(4) serum biliurin > 50 µmol/L (2.92 mg/dL) with parasitemia > 100,000 per µL
(5) hyperparasitemia (> 10% parasitemia)
