Abstract

HERRERA, ANA MILENA; MONTOYA, LILIANA PATRICIA; ARBOLEDA, MARGARITA  and  ORTIZ, LUISA FERNANDA. Association of severe malaria with ABO-blood group types in an endemic zone of Colombia. CES Med. [online]. 2009, vol.23, n.2, pp.7-14. ISSN 0120-8705.

Introduction: malaria is considered one of the most important tropical illnesses in public health causing millions of infections and deaths each year. Many studies have tried to establish an association between the severe form of the disease and the ABO-blood group type. In Colombia, a country with large endemic zones for malaria there are not enough studies or statistic data about this possible association. Methods: a retrospective case-control study of patients with severe and uncomplicated malaria in the endemic zone of Apartadó, Colombia, was performed between January 2000 and June 2006. Only the clinical records with blood group ABO and Rh classification were included. Results: a total sample of 92 patients was obtained: 49 with severe malaria and 43 with uncomplicated malaria. From the total sample, 68.5% were women and the median age of 21.5 years (min 1-max 80). Of the patients with diagnosis of severe malaria, 59.2 % were women. The more frequent parasite species was Plasmodium falciparum. Severe malaria was more frequent among patients classified with blood group O (65.3 %) and positive Rh (93.9 %), but this association was not statistically significant. Conclusion: even though severe malaria was more frequent among patients classified with blood group O and positive Rh, an association between blood group and severe malaria could not be established. The controversial association of these variables previously found in other populations could be probably explained by the demographic distribution and characteristics of those.

Keywords : Malaria; ABO blood Group system; Colombia.

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