Platelet dysfunction in malaria.

Platelet function tests including platelet aggregation, PF3, bleeding time and clot retraction were studied in 48 malarial patients. The suppression of platelet aggregation was demonstrated in both P. vivax and P. falciparum infection. However, this abnormality was more prominent in malarial patients who had systemic complications and bleeding. The recovery of the impaired platelet aggregation was observed at period of 7 and 14 days after parasitemia in malarial patients without and with systemic complications. The correlation between the suppression of platelet aggregation and thrombocytopenia was observed. From this study, bleeding in malaria are operated by two mechanisms: thrombocytopenia and severely depressed platelet aggregation.