Association between carriage of oral yeasts and malnutrition among Tanzanian infants aged 6-24 months.
OBJECTIVE
To determine if there is an association between carriage of oral yeasts and malnutrition in infants.


METHODS
A case-control study within a cross-sectional study. The dependent variable was carriage of oral yeasts. The exposure variable was malnutrition and confounders to be adjusted for were age, sex, and breast-feeding.


METHODS
A maternal and child health clinic in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania that offers routine medical check-ups to all expectant mothers and children aged between 0 and 5 years in its catchment areas.


METHODS
972 infants aged 6-24 months participated. Smears from the tongue and cheek mucosa were examined for candidal hyphae and blastospores. Malnutrition was categorized according to Tanzanian standards (weight-for-age) and World Health Organization (WHO) standards (weight-for-height and height-for-age).


METHODS
Carriage of oral yeasts (hyphae and blastospores).


RESULTS
Carriage of oral yeasts was significantly higher in the 227 malnourished compared with the 745 well nourished adjusted for confounders. Odds ratio for presence of hyphae in smears from the severely malnourished (weight-for-age) was 4.5 (90% CI: 2.0-10.0). Odds ratio for presence of hyphae was 2.3 (90% CI: 1.1-4.8) when weight-for-height were used to categorize for malnutrition.


CONCLUSIONS
The study tends to confirm the generally held view that malnutrition may predispose to carriage of oral yeasts and subsequent oral candidiasis.
Matee
M I
MI
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University, Dar-es-Salaam.
Simon
E
E
Christensen
M F
MF
Kirk
K
K
Andersen
L
L
Samaranayake
L P
LP
Scheutz
F
F
D002175:Candida / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002180:Candidiasis, Oral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007228:Infant Nutrition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013636:Tanzania; D014059:Tongue / Q000382:microbiology; D014944:World Health Organization