European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: Thrombocytopenia is one of the most important haematological manifestation of many infections which may present as acute febrile illness. As per the WHO (World Health Organisation) case definition criteria, a case of acute febrile illness(AFI)⁽¹⁾ is defined as any individual with fever for at least 2days; or temperature on admission of 38.5C or greater; with no identified cause of fever, such as diarrhea or pneumonia; or suspected of having typhoid fever or brucellosis, as defined by WHO.
Methodology: This study is a prospective cohort study over a period of Two years. Department of General medicine, at Patna medical college and Hospital, Patna. 200 Patients admitted to the hospital with documented fever of >38.5C⁽⁵⁾ and platelet count <1,50,000/µL were selected using purposive sampling techniques. They are followed from admission till recovery, discharge or death whichever is earlier.
Conclusion: Higher frequencies of mild to severe thrombocytopenia were observed in different etiologies in our study. Out of which malaria and dengue were the most common cause of thrombocytopenia among the acute febrile illness cases during presentation followed by other diseases. Hence the presence of thrombocytopenia in a febrile patient heightens the suspicion of these two diseases.