Haemoglobin Concentrations at Steady State and During Episodes of Clinical P. falciparum Malaria

<p>Values are means (with standard errors). 1 g/dl = 10 g/l Data for steady state, all malaria admissions, and severe malaria admissions derive from the birth cohort study. Severe malaria was defined as described in the text. Study participants (and genotypes) numbered as follows: steady state <i>n</i> = 2,104 (αα/αα, 739; −α/αα, 1,017; −α/−α, 348); all malaria admissions <i>n</i> = 434 (αα/αα, 174; −α/αα, 196; −α/−α, 64); and severe malaria admissions <i>n</i> = 146 (αα/αα, 67; −α/αα, 55; −α/−α, 24). Data for uncomplicated malaria derive from the mild disease cohort study. Data for αα/αα reflect 420 measurements in 96 study participants; for −α/αα are from 701 in 149; and for −α/−α are from 212 in 56. Amongst children in steady state, mean difference (β) = −2.6 g/l (95% CI, −4.1,−1.1; <i>p</i> = 0.001) and −5.6 (−7.8,− 3.8; <i>p</i> < 0.001) for −α/αα and −α/−α, respectively. The equivalent β values for uncomplicated malaria were −3.2 (−5.6,−7.7; <i>p</i> = 0.010) and −6.8 (−10,−3.4; <i>p</i> < 0.001); for hospital-admitted malaria were 8.4 (2.8,14.1; <i>p</i> = 0.003) and 0.97 (0.29,1.65; <i>p</i> = 0.005); and for severe malaria were 1.08 (−0.10,2.25; <i>p</i> = 0.072) and 13.8 (0.60,26.9; <i>p</i> = 0.041). These figures were adjusted for age (as continuous) and sex, and for potential within-person clustering where children contributed more than one data point.