Differential Diagnosis

System Manifestations Differential diagnosis
General Fever, malaise, prostration, body ache Any cause for fever and sepsis; lymphadenopathy, dysuria and rashes rare in malaria
Head ache Migraine, sinusitis, tension headache, intracranial space occupying lesion/raised intracranial tension, meningitis
Respiratory Cough, chest pain (pleuritic), breathlessness, wheezing, hemoptysis, tachypnoea Pharyngitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, worsening of asthma, pleurisy etc.
Cardiovascular Chest pain, breathlessness, hypotension, sweating, pulmonary edema Acute coronary syndrome, cardiogenic shock, left ventricular failure, pericarditis
Abdominal Acute abdominal pain (diffuse or localized), tenderness, vomiting, diarrhea/dysentery, splenomegaly Acute gastritis, gastroenteritis, acute abdomen, peritonitis, cholecystitis, cholangitis, gastroenteritis, amebiasis, appendicitis, pancreatitis, subdiaphragmatic abscess, other causes of splenomegaly etc.
Hepatobiliary Jaundice, elevated transaminases, hepatomegaly, rarely encephalopathy, altered sensorium, coma Hepatitis, hepatocellular failure, liver abscess, leptospirosis
Renal Dark urine, oliguria Acute nephritis, acute renal failure, leptospirosis
Neurological Headache, altered sensorium, convulsions, coma, minimal neck stiffness, papilledema; cerebellar syndrome Acute encephalitis, meningitis, intra-cranial space occupying lesions, stroke, metabolic encephalopathy, vertebrobasilar insufficiency etc.
Vestibular Dizziness, vertigo Meniere’s, positional vertigo, vertebrobasilar insufficiency
Psychiatry Altered behavior, mood changes, sleep disturbances Acute confusional states, acute psychosis, mood disorders
Haematological Anemia, thrombocytopenia, bleeding All other causes of anemia, blood dyscrasias, hemolytic anemias, intra vascular hemolysis, bleeding diathesis

Sources:

  1. Mühlberger N, Jelinek T, Gascon J, et al. Epidemiology and clinical features of vivax malaria imported to Europe: Sentinel surveillance data from TropNetEurop. Malaria J. 2004;3:5. Available at http://www.malariajournal.com/content/pdf/1475-2875-3-5.pdf
  2. Jelinek T, Schulte C, Behrens R, et al. Imported Falciparum Malaria in Europe: Sentinel surveillance data from the European network on surveillance of imported infectious diseases. Clin Infect Dis. 2002;34:572–576. Available at http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/338235
  3. Echeverri M, Tobón A, Álvarez G, et al. Clinical and laboratory findings of Plasmodium vivax malaria in Colombia, 2001. Rev Inst Med trop S Paulo Jan-Feb, 2003;45(1):29–34. Available at http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rimtsp/v45n1/14944.pdf
  4. Gupta S, Gunter JT, Novak RJ, Regens JL. Patterns of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria underscore importance of data collection from private health care facilities in India. Malaria J. 2009;8:227. Available at http://www.malariajournal.com/content/pdf/1475-2875-8-227.pdf
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  6. Ndyomugyenyi R, Magnussen P, Clarke S. Diagnosis and treatment of malaria in peripheral health facilities in Uganda: Findings from an area of low transmission in south-western Uganda. Malaria J 2007;6:39.
  7. Harris VK, Richard VS, Mathai E, et al. A study on clinical profile of falciparum malaria in a tertiary care hospital in south India. Indian J Malariol 2001;38(1–2):19–24.
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  10. Oh M-D Oh, Shin H, Shin D,Min-Ho Choi, Jong-Yil Chai, Kangwon Choe et al. Clinical features of vivax Malaria. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2001;65(2):143–146. Available at http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/reprint/65/2/143.pdf

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