Malaria and haematologic parameters of pupils at different altitudes along the slope of Mount Cameroon: a cross-sectional study

Malaria Journal

Research

Leopold G Lehman¹  Lucy M Ndip²  Helen K Kimbi³  Yannick Nana³  Malaika Nweboh³  Irene UN Sumbele³  Judith K Anchang-Kimbi³  Emmaculate Lum³  Henry Njom⁴ 

[1]Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Douala, P.O. Box 2701, Douala, Cameroon

[2]Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, SWR, Cameroon

[3]Emerging infectious Disease Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, SWR, Cameroon

[4]Department of Zoology and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, SWR, Cameroon

[5]Emerging infectious Disease Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, P.O. Box 63, Buea, SWR, Cameroon

关键词: Malaria;    Prevalence;    Altitude;    Pupils;    Haematologic Profile;    White Blood Cell Count;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-12-193

 received in 2013-02-07, accepted in 2013-06-05,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHaematologic abnormalities are features in Plasmodium falciparum infection, and anaemia is an inevitable outcome. This study examines the influence of malaria status and altitude on haematologic parameters in school-aged pupils.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 728 school pupils aged between four and 15 years at three different altitudinal ranges along the slope of the Mount Cameroon region. The investigative methods included the use of questionnaire, clinical evaluation and laboratory investigations. Blood sample collected from each child was used for the preparation of blood films for detection of malaria parasites and assessment of malaria parasite density as well as full blood count determination using an automated haematology analyzer.ResultsThe prevalence of malaria in the study population was 33.8% and 64.2% (158/246) of these were asymptomatic (AM). Pupils in lowlands had a significantly higher (P <0.05) prevalence (95% confidence interval, CI) of malaria (60.6%, CI = 54.6–65.9%) than those in middle belt (29.1%, CI = 23.9–34.8%) and highlands (7.7%, CI = 6.1–9.8%), while those in middle belt had significantly higher geometric mean parasite density (475) than those in lowlands (233) and highlands (388). The prevalence of malaria was significantly higher in children that presented with fever (40.4%, CI = 33.8–47.2%) when compared with afebrile subjects (31%, CI = 27–35.2%). Pupils with AM had a higher prevalence of leucopaenia (43.7%, CI = 35.8–51.8%), microcytosis (27.2%, CI = 20.5–34.9%), hypochromasia (27.8%, CI = 21–35.5%) and thrombocytopaenia (14.9%, CI = 8.9–22.8%) when compared with those with clinical malaria (CM). All mean haematological parameters were comparable in pupils with CM and AM, except for the mean white blood cell (WBC) counts. Pupils with AM had significantly lower (P = 0.02) mean WBC counts (5.1 ± 2.5 × 109/L) than those with CM (5.9 ± 2.3 × 109/L). Age, altitude and malaria parasitaemia was of significant influence on several haematological parameters.ConclusionAltitude influenced the distribution and density of malaria parasites and was of confounding influence on the haematologic profiles. These results highlight the insidious effects of AM on the haematologic components.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Kimbi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.