Haematological profiles of the people of rural southern Malawi: an overview

Abstract

An integrative review of the results of two published and two unpublished studies of anaemia in children, adolescent females, pregnant women and adults living in southern Malawi is presented. Anaemia was universally present in all age-groups, with the higher prevalences in infants (100%) and adolescent primigravidae (93.8%). Nutritional deficits of iron and vitamin A were major contributory factors but chronic malarial haemolysis also significantly contributed to the anaemia. Among boys, anaemia was more common among those with glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency than in those without this deficiency (P
As the prevalence of infection with Plasmodium falciparum was significantly higher in infants with haemoglobin AS than in those with AA (21.4% v. 6.7%; P

Citation

Brabin, B. J.; Prinsen-Geerligs, P. D.; Verhoeff, F. H.; Fletcher, K. A.; Chimsuku, L. H. E.; Ngwira, B. M.; Leich, O. J.; Broadhead, R. L. Haematological profiles of the people of rural southern Malawi: an overview. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology (2004) 98 (1) 71-83. [DOI: 10.1179/000349804225003055]

Haematological profiles of the people of rural southern Malawi: an overview

Updates to this page

Published 1 January 2004