Anaemia and severe malarial anaemia burden in febrile Gabonese children: a nine-year health facility based survey

Authors

  • Marielle Karine Bouyou-Akotet Faculty of Medicine, Université des Sciences de la Santé, Libreville, Gabon
  • Denise Patricia Mawili Mboumba Faculty of Medicine, Université des Sciences de la Santé, Libreville, Gabon
  • Eric Kendjo Faculty of Medicine, Université des Sciences de la Santé, Libreville, Gabon
  • Fanckie Mbadinga Malaria Clinical and Operational Research Unit (MCORU), Centre Hospitalier de Libreville, Libreville, Gabon
  • Nestor Obiang-Bekale Malaria Clinical and Operational Research Unit (MCORU), Centre Hospitalier de Libreville, Libreville, Gabon
  • Pacome Mouidi Malaria Clinical and Operational Research Unit (MCORU), Centre Hospitalier de Libreville, Libreville, Gabon
  • Maryvonne Kombila Faculty of Medicine, Université des Sciences de la Santé, Libreville, Gabon

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.3347

Keywords:

anaemia, malaria, children, SMA, Gabon

Abstract

Introduction: Anaemia remains a major cause of poor health in children and pregnant women living in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is one of the main causes of anaemia in endemic countries. At the time of decreasing Plasmodium falciparum infection prevalence among children, it was essential to analyze the evolution of anaemia and severe malarial anaemia (SMA), the most frequent clinical manifestation of severe malaria, in Gabon.

Methodology: Yearly recorded haemoglobin levels of febrile children aged below11 years, who benefitted from microscopic malaria diagnosis, were retrospectively analyzed to determine the evolution of anaemia and SMA prevalence throughout a nine-year period between 2000 and 2008.

Results: Anaemia prevalence remained high both in P. falciparum-infected children (between 87.6% and 90.7%) and in uninfected children (between 73.5% and 82.6%). Although the risk of developing severe anaemia ranged between 1.9 [0.9-3.8] in 2000 and 3.0 [1.3-6.5] in 2007, SMA prevalence did not significantly change during the study period, varying from 6.0% to 8.0%. From 2001, the frequency of SMA was comparable between children younger than five years of age and children older than five years of age.

Conclusions: The decreasing malaria prevalence previously observed in Gabon between 2000 and 2008 was not associated with a significant reduction of anaemia and SMA burden among children. Furthermore, other factors such as nutritional deficiencies, which may not be negligible, must be investigated in this vulnerable population

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Published

2013-12-15

How to Cite

1.
Bouyou-Akotet MK, Mawili Mboumba DP, Kendjo E, Mbadinga F, Obiang-Bekale N, Mouidi P, Kombila M (2013) Anaemia and severe malarial anaemia burden in febrile Gabonese children: a nine-year health facility based survey. J Infect Dev Ctries 7:983–989. doi: 10.3855/jidc.3347

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Original Articles