Acute Malaria in Malawian Children and Adults is Characterized by Thrombocytopenia That Normalizes in Convalescence.

Background: malaria has been linked with significant perturbations of the peripheral cell-mediated immune system during acute phase. Some of these changes include lower than normal platelet counts. Although the exact mechanisms that drive thrombocytopenia in malaria are not fully known, a number of hypotheses have been proposed.