Malaria, anemia, and malnutrition in african children--defining intervention priorities.
BACKGROUND
Malaria, anemia, and malnutrition contribute substantially to childhood morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa, but their respective roles and interactions in conferring disease are complex. We aimed to investigate these interactions.


METHODS
In 2002, we assessed plasmodial infection, anemia, and nutritional indices in 2 representative surveys comprising >4000 children in northern Ghana.


RESULTS
Infection with Plasmodium species was observed in 82% and 75% of children in the rainy and dry season, respectively. The fraction of fever attributable to malaria was 77% in the rainy season and 48% in the dry season and peaked in children of rural residence. Anemia (hemoglobin level, <11 g/dL) was seen in 64% of children and was, in multivariate analysis, associated with young age, season, residence, parasitemia, P. malariae coinfection, and malnutrition (odds ratio [OR], 1.68 [95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38-2.04]). In addition, malnutrition was independently associated with fever (axillary temperature, > or = 37.5 degrees C; OR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.13-2.23]) and clinical malaria (OR, 1.67 [95% CI, 1.10-2.50]).


CONCLUSIONS
Malnutrition is a fundamental factor contributing to malaria-associated morbidity and anemia, even if the latter exhibits multifactorial patterns. Our data demonstrate that malaria-control programs alone may not have the desired impact on childhood morbidity on a large scale without concomitant nutrition programs.
Ehrhardt
Stephan
S
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany. ehrhardt@bni-hamburg.de
Burchard
Gerd D
GD
Mantel
Carsten
C
Cramer
Jakob P
JP
Kaiser
Sarah
S
Kubo
Martina
M
Otchwemah
Rowland N
RN
Bienzle
Ulrich
U
Mockenhaupt
Frank P
FP
D000367:Age Factors; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005869:Ghana / Q000453:epidemiology; D006292:Health Priorities / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008288:Malaria / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons