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.
Highlights
The 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
Anaemia and Intestinal parasitic infection (IPI) 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)
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
Summary
The 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. Malaria and intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are among the most prevalent diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There has been a decline in the global prevalence of malaria (due to an increased number of funding bodies that have been contributing to the fight against the disease in the last decade), hundreds of thousands of people still die from the disease every year. In 2013, 198 million cases of malaria and 584,000 deaths were reported [2]. The majority of deaths from malaria occurred in children under 15 years of age in SSA [3]. Namely Plasmodium vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, P. knowlesi and P. falciparum, cause malaria, with the latter being the most virulent and accounting for the majority of malaria deaths [4, 5]
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