Anaemia and Thrombocytopenia among Malaria Parasitized Children in Sokoto, North Western Nigeria - Abstract
Malaria infection is a major public health problem and cause of morbidity and mortality particularly among children and pregnant women in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The aim of this present study was to determine the effect of plasmodium parasitaemia on the incidence of anaemia and thrombocytopenia among 126 children aged 2-11 years with mean age 5.36 ± 2.50 years who presented to the children emergency unit of Sokoto Specialist Hospital with history of febrile illness. Out of the children studied, 66 (52.4%) were positive for malaria while 60 (47.6%) were negative. Haematological parameters were analyzed using Mythic 22 CT 5- part differential haematology analyzer (Orphée, Switzerland). Testing for malaria was carried out using the Onset Malaria Plasmodium Falciparum (Pf) Antibody (Ab) rapid test (CTK Biotech, Inc. USA) and speciation and number of parasites per high field was carried out on the Giemsa stained thing blood film. The mean PCV, haemoglobin and platelet count of plasmodium- parasitized children was significantly lower compared to non-infected controls (29.48, 10.36 and 188.68) versus (32.76, 11.34 and 327.50) respectively (p=0.01). The prevalence of anaemia and thrombocytopenia was significantly higher among Plasmodium parasitized subjects compared to nonparasitized controls. Plasmodium falciparum was the predominant specie among the parasitized subjects. A negative and significant correlation was observed between the number of parasite per high field and platelet count as index of thrombocytopenia and haemoglobin as index of anaemia (r=0.62 and p=0.75) respectively (p= 0.01)
among parasitized subjects. Plasmodium parasitaemia has a significant impact on the haemoglobin, packed cell volume and platelet count of malaria parasitized children. Preventative strategies including regular chemoprophylaxis, intermittent preventative treatment with antimalarials, provision of iron supplementation and insecticide-treated bed nets should be implemented urgently to prevent the malaria-related negative impact of anaemia and thrombocytopenia among malaria parasitized children in North Western Nigeria.