Table 1 Demographic, clinical and biochemical characteristics of Plasmodium falciparum malaria cases at first presentation and healthy controls

Gender, male / female

60 / 19

7 / 5

53 / 14

17 / 24

< 0.001

Age

43.8

51.7

42.4

32.5

< 0.001

(range)

(21–69)

(29–69)

(21–65)

(18–72)

Travel destination (n/%)

Africa

76 (96.2)

11 (100.0)

65 (98.5)

NA

NA

South America

1 (1.3)

0

1 (1.5)

Duration of stay, days (%)

< 7

4 (5.5)

0

4 (6.25)

NA

NA

7 - 14

9 (12.3)

2 (22.2)

7 (10.9)

14 - 21

7 (9.6)

2 (22.2)

5 (7.8)

> 21

53 (72.6)

5 (55.6)

48 (75.0)

Time to development of complaints after travel, days (%)

< 7

48 (64.8)

9 (81.8)

39 (61.9)

NA

NA

7 - 14

17 (23.0)

2 (18.2)

15 (23.8)

14 - 21

4 (5.4)

0

4 (6.3)

> 21

5 (6.8)

0

5 (7.9)

Malaria prophylaxis, n (%)

4 (5.3)

1 (9.1)

3 (4.6)

NA

NA

Temperature, °C (±SD)

37.8 (1.2)

37.9 (1.2)

37.8 (1.2)

36.5(0.4)

< 0.001

BP, mmHg (±SD)

119.6 (16.0)

118.9 (11.8)

119.7 (16.7)

122.4 (11.7)

0.283

Heart rate, bpm (±SD)

90 (18)

92.5 (18.5)

89.6 (17.6)

70 (8.4)

< 0.001

Haemoglobin, g/l (±SD)

131.6 (19.3)

121.4 (25.0)

133.5 (17.7)

137.8 (11.0)

0.030

Platelets, x1,000/μl (±SD)

96.6 (63.0)

52.6 (33.4)

104.4 (63.9)

250.2 (87.1)

< 0.001

Leukocytes, x1,000/μl (±SD)

5.5 (2.3)

5.8 X(2.3)

5.4 (2.3)

6.3 (1.1)

0.014

Parasite density, parasites/μl (±SD)

97,974 (176,183)

407,028 (274,253)

41,783 (56,595)

NA

< 0.001

Total bilirubin, mg/dl (±SD)

1.7 (1.2)

2.6 (1.6)

1.5 (1.1)

0,7 (0.5)

< 0.001

ALT, U/l (±SD)

44.9 (30.7)

68.0 (45.9)

40.8 (25.4)

23,8 (13.2)

< 0.001

AST, U/l (±SD)

51.8 (50.6)

108.6 (105.9)

41.7 (21.6)

25.3 (5.9)

< 0.001

Creatinine, mg/dl (±SD)

1.1 (0.4)

1.6 (0.8)

1.1 (0.2)

0.8 (0.1)

< 0.001