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Impact of Plasmodium falciparum infection on the frequency of moderate to severe anaemia in children below 10 years of age in Gabon.

Bouyou-Akotet, MK; Dzeing-Ella, A; Kendjo, E; Etoughe, D; Ngoungou, EB; Planche, T; Koko, J; Kombila, M (2009) Impact of Plasmodium falciparum infection on the frequency of moderate to severe anaemia in children below 10 years of age in Gabon. MALARIA JOURNAL, 8 (166). ISSN 1475-2875 https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-8-166
SGUL Authors: Planche, Timothy David

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Improving the understanding of childhood malarial anaemia may help in the design of appropriate management strategies. METHODS: A prospective observational study over a two-year period to assess the burden of anaemia and its relationship to Plasmodium falciparum infection and age was conducted in 8,195 febrile Gabonese children. RESULTS: The proportion of children with anaemia was 83.6% (n = 6830), higher in children between the ages of six and 23 months. Those under three years old were more likely to develop moderate to severe anaemia (68%). The prevalence of malaria was 42.7% and P. falciparum infection was more frequent in children aged 36-47 months (54.5%). The proportion of anaemic children increased with parasite density (p < 0.01). Most of infected children were moderately to severely anaemic (69.5%, p < 0.01). Infants aged from one to 11 months had a higher risk of developing severe malarial anaemia. In children over six years of age, anaemia occurrence was high (>60%), but was unrelated to P. falciparum parasitaemia. CONCLUSION: Malaria is one of the main risk factors for childhood anaemia which represents a public health problem in Gabon. The risk of severe malarial anaemia increases up the age of three years. Efforts to improve strategies for controlling anaemia and malaria are needed.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2009 Bouyou-Akotet et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Age Factors, Anemia, Animals, Child, Child, Preschool, Gabon, Humans, Infant, Malaria, Falciparum, Plasmodium falciparum, Prevalence, Prospective Studies, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Parasitology, Tropical Medicine, MALARIA-ENDEMIC AREA, HEMOGLOBIN CONCENTRATIONS, WESTERN KENYA, PARASITEMIA, INFANTS, AFRICA, BURDEN, CHEMOPROPHYLAXIS, TRANSMISSION, MORBIDITY
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Infection and Immunity Research Institute (INII)
Journal or Publication Title: MALARIA JOURNAL
ISSN: 1475-2875
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Dates:
DateEvent
20 July 2009Published
Web of Science ID: WOS:000269171200001
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URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/44
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-8-166

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