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

Procalcitonin is an inflammatory marker strongly associated with the presence of bacterial infection. It has been considered raised in severe malaria infection as opposed to uncomplicated malaria. There are suggestions that it may be raised only when there is concomitant unnoticeable bacterial infection during a malaria crisis. We aimed to assess the difference in plasma procalcitonin levels between children affected by severe and uncomplicated malaria.

In the absence of overt bacterial infection, procalcitonin levels are not different between children affected with uncomplicated malaria and those with severe malaria. Therefore, bacterial infection should be thoroughly checked for in children with raised serum procalcitonin diagnosed with severe malaria.

We assessed plasma procalcitonin levels in 83 children diagnosed with malaria with no clinical and biological evidence of concomitant bacterial infection. Severity of malaria was established using WHO guidelines. Procalcitonin was determined using the ELISA method. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare medians across the 2 groups. Statistical significance was set for all p values < 0.05.

Of the 83 participants, 28 had uncomplicated malaria, and 55 had severe malaria. PCT levels were obtained in 24 and 40 subjects of each group, respectively, and were similar in both groups; [2.76 (2.52-2.93) vs 2.74 (2.52-2.98) ng/ml, p = 0.916]. The parasite density was lower in the uncomplicated malaria group than in the severe malaria group, but not statistically significant; [22,192 (9110-44 654) vs 31 684 (13 960-73 500) parasites/μl, p = 0.178]. There was no correlation between the parasite density in the general study population and PCT levels (r = 0.072, p = 0.572).