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Table 2 Characteristics of patients with severe malaria (n = 185 patients in all categories)

From: Severe malaria in Europe: an 8-year multi-centre observational study

Characteristics

n (median)

% [IQR]

Gender

 Male

132

71

Age

 Age in years

(42)

[31–52]

 ≥60 years

22

12

 ≤18 years

10

5

Origin of patients

 European, no history of migration

106

57

 Immigrant/history of migration

68

37

 Visitor from endemic country

11

6

Anti-malarial chemoprophylaxis

 None

162

88

 Non-adherence to prescribed regimen

17

9

 Doxycyclinea

2

1

 Chloroquine-proguanila,b

2

1

 Mefloquinea

1

1

 Atovaquone-proguanila

1

1

Criteria leading to classification as severe malaria

 Hyperparasitaemia >5%

132

71

 Hyperparasitaemia >10%c

55

30

 Hyperparasitaemia >2%c

154

83

 Jaundiced

81

44

 Impaired consciousness/coma

46

25

 Acute renal failure

36

19

 Liver function test >3 times upper normal

36

19

 Circulatory collapse/shock

27

15

 Anaemia <8 g/dl

27

15

 Respiratory failure

22

12

 Spontaneous/abnormal bleeding

13

7

 Acidosis

9

5

 Hypoglycaemia <40 mg/dl

6

3

 Multiple convulsions

3

2

Number of criteria for severe malaria met by individual patients

 1

59

32

 2

60

32

 3

30

16

 4

19

10

 5

10

5

 >5

7

3

Underlying co-morbidities

 Any

63

43

 Hypertension

16

9

 HIV

13

7

 Diabetes

10

5

 Chronic heart disease

8

4

 Hepatitis

3

2

 COPD

2

1

 Other chronic conditions

11

6

  1. Data are number of patients, unless indicated otherwise
  2. COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV Human immunodeficiency virus
  3. a Patients with reported adherence to chemoprophylaxis only
  4. b Chloroquine-proguanil was taken for travel to Togo in 2007 and Burkina Faso in 2010
  5. c Hyperparasitaemia >2 and >10% were not used as criteria for severe malaria in this study according to WHO guidelines 2006 and are shown for informational purposes only
  6. d Clinical jaundice was used as criterion for severe malaria in this study according to WHO guidelines 2006