Procalcitonin levels in children affected by severe malaria compared to those with uncomplicated malaria in the absence of bacterial infection: a cross-sectional study

Table 3 Biological characteristics of the study participants stratified by severity of malaria and those who received prior antimalarial treatment

	Uncomplicated Malaria (n = 28)		P value	Severe Malaria (n = 55)		P value
	No Treatment (n = 24)	Prior Treatment (n = 4)		No Treatment (n = 32)	Prior Treatment (n = 23)
WBC count, median (IQR), cell/mm³	7000 (5700–8100)	5900 (4900–9500)	0.97	7300 (5900–8600)	6700 (4600–9100)	0.64
Hemoglobin level, median (IQR), g/dL	9.4 (8.0–11.5)	9.7 (8.2–10.0)	0.83	9.4 (7.0–11.0)	10.1 (7.7–10.8)	1.00
Platelet count, median (IQR), cell/mm³	178 (114–278)	167 (67–267)	0.65	100 (70–142)	111 (62–193)	0.93
*P. falciparum* parasite density, median (IQR), parasite/μl	22 173 (9466–45 443)	23 400 (5700–31 966)	0.90	49 989 (22 641–108 475)	18 869 (5025–32 737)	0.005
Procalcitonin level, median (IQR), ng/mL	2.82 (2.55–2.93)	2.48 (2.17–2.88)	0.43	2.82 (2.55–2.97)	2.65 (2.45–2.94)	0.53

ISSN: 2055-0936