Blood count changes in malaria patients according to Blood Groups (ABO/Rh) and Sickle Cell Trait

Abstract Introduction: Malaria continues to be the main cause of hospitalization and death in Angola, a sub-Saharan African country. In 2023, in the first quarter, 2,744,682 cases were registered, and of these 2,673 patients died due to the malaria disease. Previous studies showed that the ABO blood group can affect the progression of malaria to serious situations after P. falciparum infection while the sickle cell gene offers relative protection. Objective: We investigated changes in the blood count according to blood groups (ABO/Rh) and sickle cell trait in patients with malaria in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. Methodology: This was a longitudinal, prospective, and observational study with 198 patients hospitalized for malaria. Results: of the 198 patients studied, 13(6.6%) were ABRh(+), 4(2.0%) were ARh(-), 49(24.7%) were ARh(+), 42(21,2%) were BRh(+), 5(2.5%) were ORh(-), and 85(42.9%) were ORh(+). For sickle cell trait, 145(73.2%) were AA, 37(18.7%) were AS and 16(8.1%) were SS. No statistical relationship was observed between age group, sex, parasitemia, clinical picture, hematocrit, MCV, MCH, MCHC, WCB, NEUT, LINF, and PTL values with blood groups (p<0.05), but showed a relationship between hemoglobin values and ABO/Rh blood groups (p>0.05). There was no relationship between age, parasitemia, clinical condition, MCV, MCH and MCHC, WCB, NEUT, and LINF values with sickle cell trait (p<0.05), but there was a relationship between sex, hemoglobin and PTL values and sickle cell trait sickle cell (p>0.05). Conclusion: It is very important to differentiate patients with malaria based on blood groups and sickle cell trait, taking into account mainly the blood count parameters that demonstrate that there are patients who, depending on their blood group or sickle cell trait, may react weakly to the infection by malaria regardless of the degree of parasitemia and medical prognosis.