Vivax and falciparum malaria seen at an Indian service hospital.

The cases of 740 adult males with vivax and/or falciparum malaria managed in a military hospital in north-eastern India during the period from June 1978 to March 1981 were analysed. Four hundred and nine (55.3%) were infected with Plasmodium falciparum, 237 (32.0%) with P. vivax and the remaining 94 (12.7%) with both P. vivax and P. falciparum. The majority of cases were chloroquine sensitive and did not pose diagnostic or therapeutic problems. Of 381 patients subjected to an extended field test, 82 (21.5%) exhibited a variable degree of chloroquine resistance. Cerebral and haemopoietic involvement were the commonest of the pernicious syndromes observed in 92 (12.4%) patients. Atypical presentations, variable chloroquine resistance and presentation with complications call for timely recognition and institution of a specific supportive therapeutic regime.