Fig. 3

Plasma cytokine levels in CM children stratified by peripheral parasitaemia. Median plasma cytokine levels (pg/mL) at hospital presentation in children with CM, categorized into four groups based on peripheral blood parasite load per microliter of blood [1–12,800, (n = 60); 12,801–63,400, (n = 39); 63,401–250,100, (n = 42) and > 250,100, (n = 38)] at presentation; a IL-1β, b IL-10, c IL-6, d IL-12, e IL-8, f TNF. Kruskal–Wallis test was used for group analysis, p value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The bar represents a median value