A Study on The Prevalence of ABO Blood Groups in Malaria Infection

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the distribution of blood groups in malaria positive patients in and around the city of Mangalore. Materials and methods: This study was conducted from January 2015-December 2015. The study group consisted of malaria positive patients diagnosed by MPFT or MP Smear. Blood grouping, complete blood counts and peripheral smear examinations were done in these patients. Results: During the 1 year period of our study, there were 278 malaria positive patients. Of the 278 malaria positive cases, 262 (94.24%) cases were P.vivax, 2 (0.72%) were P.falciparum & 14 (5.04%) were mixed infections. The vast majority of the patients were male (83.5%) and the largest number of cases were seen in the 20-29 age group (39.9%). The most common peripheral smear finding was thrombocytopenia. 256 (92.1%) of the patients were Rh positive and only 22 (7.9%) of cases were Rh negative. The most common ABO blood group seen was O in 38.13% followed by B in 28.78%. A blood group had 26.6% and AB had only 6.83%. Overall, the most common of the 8 ABO-Rh groups seen was O positive (35.6%) followed by B positive (26.3%). Conclusions: In our study, malaria is found to be more prevalent in males, the most common species is P.vivax and most common age group is 20-29yrs. The most common haematological abnormality seen was thrombocytopenia and overall, malaria is seen to occur most in the O positive blood group which is in concordance with most other studies.