The association between protein-energy malnutrition, malaria morbidity and all-cause mortality in West African children.
Both malaria and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) are highly prevalent in young children of sub-Saharan Africa, and the association between PEM and malaria continues to be discussed controversially. We analysed the association between PEM, malaria morbidity and all-cause mortality in a cohort of 709 children aged 6-30 months in a malaria holoendemic rural area of Burkina Faso. Study children were followed over the main malaria transmission period (June-December) in 1999 through longitudinal malaria surveillance complemented by three cross-sectional clinical surveys. There was no association between PEM and malaria morbidity, but malnourished children had a more than two-fold higher risk of dying than non-malnourished children.
Müller
Olaf
O
Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany. olaf.muller@urz.uni-heidelberg.de
Garenne
Michel
M
Kouyaté
Bocar
B
Becher
Heiko
H
D000886:Anthropometry; D002050:Burkina Faso / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012423:Rural Health; D017678:Sex Distribution