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. 2013 May 27:13:244.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2334-13-244.

Impact of asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia on the imunohematological indices among school children and adolescents in a rural area highly endemic for malaria in southern Mozambique

Eduardo Samo Gudo  1 , António Prista, Ilesh V Jani
Affiliations

Impact of asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia on the imunohematological indices among school children and adolescents in a rural area highly endemic for malaria in southern Mozambique

Eduardo Samo Gudo et al. BMC Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia (APFP) has been reported to be highly prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region heavily burdened by malaria, yet, the impact of APFP on the immunological reference values have not yet been established. This study was aimed at i) determine the prevalence of APFP in children and adolescents living in a region highly endemic for malaria in southern Mozambique and its impact on the immuno-hematological indices and ii) determine the factors independently associated with APFP.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a rural area highly endemic for Malaria in southern Mozambique during the dry season. Apparently healthy children and adolescents were selected for the study.

Results: Blood samples were collected from 348 participants. Plasmodium falciparum was detected in 56.5% (194/343) of study subjects. APFP was more frequent in males and was associated with lower values of hemoglobin and platelets measurements. Parasitized and not parasitized individuals were similar in terms of lymphocyte counts, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells counts. Platelet count was the parameter with strongest association with APFP (OR: 0.991, p= 0.000) in children and its performance in guiding clinical suspicion was moderate (AUC: 0.70, p=0.000). Contrarily, in adolescents, the predictive value of platelets counts was low (AUC: 0.55).

Conclusion: Overall, our finding demonstrated that APFP is highly prevalent in regions endemic for malaria in southern Mozambique and was associated with lower hematological parameters but unaltered lymphocyte counts, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells counts. Platelets count was of moderate performance in guiding clinical suspicion of APFP in children but not in adolescents.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Receiver Operational Curve analysis of platelets counts to detect asymptomatic P falciparum infection in children and adolescents attending primary school in a malaria endemic village in Southern Mozambique.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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