The recent malaria situation in Chittagong, Bangladesh

This is a retrospective study on 7,005 cases of malaria treated in a base hospital during the period 1998 to 2001. The aim of the study is to analyze the patterns, complications and mortality rates of malaria and its response to standard anti-malarial drugs. Diagnosis of malaria was made from identification of parasites on Giemsa stained thick and thin blood slides among the febrile cases and the clinical (unspecified) malaria was diagnosed as per WHO criteria. Malaria cases accounted for 136.17 per thousand-hospital admissions. Out of 7,005 malaria cases, 54.22% were falciparum, 26.18% were vivax and 12.02% were mixed infections. The most common complications of falciparum malaria were cerebral malaria (2.80%), malarial hepatitis (1.55%), acute pneumonia and/or pulmonary edema (0.22%), acute renal failure (0.13%), algid malaria (0.13%) and black water fever (0.06%). Most of the cases (66.98%) responded (S-response) well to chloroquine. Among the rest, 11.99% required quinine, 9.79% required artemether and 0.08% required both mefloquine and artemether. The total mortality rate was 0.30% but it was 9.25% and 6.17% among complicated malaria and cerebral malaria cases, respectively. Prognosis appeared better on early recognition of complications and initiation of prompt, effective treatment and adequate nursing care. Most mortality was due to complicated falciparum malaria and the emergence of drug resistance.