Diagnosis of acute malaria by laser based cell counter with comparison of conventional and recent techniques in Indian scenario

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Abstract
Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in humans affecting 103 countries worldwide. Aims: The present study aims to determine the diagnostic utility of cell counter data - hemoglobin, total leukocyte count, platelet count and depolarized laser light (DLL)-based purple-coded events (PCEs) in detection of acute malaria. This is a retrospective study of 523 patient data that came for complete blood count for the first time. Results : One hundred thirty-five of the 523 patients showed microscopic evidence of malaria. Platelet count showed the highest sensitivity of 77.77% (105/135). PCEs (≥1) showed 43.7% (59/135) sensitivity. Conclusions : It is concluded that a low platelet count (<150 ? 109/L) is a good hematological parameter for presumptive diagnosis of malaria. If we change the cut-off for PCEs from ≥1 to ≥2, the sensitivity would be 56.29% (76/135) and the specificity would be 94.58% (367/388), respectively. The sensitivity of DLL was low, particularly with a low parasitic index (PI). The number of PCEs does not correlate with the PI. The cut-off number of PCEs in DLL-based malaria detection should be modified in highly endemic areas.

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