Severe Plasmodium vivax malaria in Pakistan.

To compare the severity of Plasmodium vivax malaria with that of P. falciparum malaria, we conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of 356 adults hospitalized with malaria (2009–2011) in Pakistan. P. vivax and P. falciparum accounted for 83% and 13% of cases, respectively; 79.9% of patients with severe malaria were infected with P. vivax.