Coinfection with malaria and intestinal parasites, and its association with anaemia in children in Cameroon

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of coinfection with malaria and intestinal parasites, as well as to determine its association with anaemia in children aged 10 years and below in Muyuka, Cameroon.Materials and methodsThis was a cross-sectional study. Participants were febrile children who were admitted to the Muyuka district hospital between April and October 2012. Blood and stool samples were collected from those participants who gave consent to take part in the study. Haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and complete blood count (CBC) were performed using an automated haematology analyser (Mindray®, BC-2800). Giemsa-stained blood film was examined to detect malaria parasites, while the formol-ether concentration technique was used to detect intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs). The Pearson’s chi-square, Student’s T-test and correlation analysis were all performed as part of the statistical analyses.ResultsFour hundred and eleven (411) children successfully took part in this study. The prevalence of malaria, IPIs, malaria and IPI coinfection, and anaemia observed were 98.5 %, 11.9 %, 11.9 % and 44.8 %, respectively. Anaemia and IPIs were significantly associated with age; anaemia was more prevalent in children under five years of age (p = 0.000), whereas IPIs were more prevalent in children aged between five and 10 years (p = 0.006). The parasite species isolated included Ascaris lumbricoides (36 [73.5 %]), Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (9 [18.4 %]) and hookworm (4 [8.2 %]). The mean Hb observed was 10.64 g/dl (±1.82). A significant negative correlation was observed between malaria parasite density and Hb. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of anaemia among children infected with malaria, IPIs, or malaria and IPI coinfection, or among non-infected children. Similarly, the mean Hb did not differ among infected and non-infected children.ConclusionThis study showed that malaria and IPIs still constitute a major public health problem in the study area despite a lack of any significant association between these infections and anaemia. The findings suggest that there is a need for the implementation of control measures to curb the rate of malaria and IPIs in the study area.

Prevalence of Coinfection with Malaria and HIV among Children in Yaoundé, Cameroon: A Cross-Sectional Survey Performed in Three Communities in Yaoundé

“…Conversely, prevalence of malaria in the current study was not observed to be associated with gender or study site. The finding of no association between prevalence of malaria and gender is in conformity with other studies [3] [4] [5] [7].…”

“…Although there has been a decline in malaria recently, malaria still remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in SSA, claiming the live of a child every 2 minutes [2]. In Cameroon, malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children [3] [4] [5]. Malaria is caused by parasitic protozoans of the genus Plasmodium.…”

The prevalence of malaria in people living with HIV in Yaounde, Cameroon

“…Malaria in Yaounde can be described as holoendemic and seasonal [18]. The prevalence is also very low compared to the prevalence of malaria in the other high risk groups including children (where prevalence could be as high as 98 % in some settings) [24], and pregnant women [25]. The low prevalence of malaria in this group could be attributed to the health seeking attitude of HIV patients.…”

Anaemia and its association with month and blood phenotype in blood donors in Fako division, Cameroon

“…The difference between the prevalence of anaemia in these studies compared to ours could be attributed to the differences in the nutritional habits of these populations. Malnutrition and infectious diseases (such as malaria, intestinal parasitic infections, HIV) are some of the main factors contributing to the high prevalence of anaemia especially in children in Cameroon [12]. The high prevalence of anaemia implies 31.44% of the donors were deferred as a result of the anaemia over the year thereby constituting a huge loss of blood stock.…”

“…Malnutrition is one of the main culprit for anaemia in Africa [9]. In addition to malnutrition, there are also infectious causes of anaemia in Cameroon including malaria and intestinal parasitic infections [10–12]. …”