Plasmodium falciparum infection and disease in infancy associated with increased risk of malaria and anaemia in childhood.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Infants under 6 months of age are often excluded from malaria surveillance and observational studies. The impact of malaria during early infancy on health later in childhood remains unknown.

Methods

Infants from two birth cohorts in Malawi were monitored at quarterly intervals and whenever they were ill from birth through 24 months for Plasmodium falciparum infections and clinical malaria. Poisson regression and linear mixed effects models measured the effect of exposure to malaria in infancy on subsequent malaria incidence, weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ), and haemoglobin concentrations after 6 months.

Results

Infants with at least one P. falciparum infection during their first 6 months had increased incidence ratio (IRR) of P. falciparum infection (IRR = 1.

SUBMITTER: Andronescu LR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10369742 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature