Hematological data of children 6-59 months who visted Hawassa University Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital

Anemia is still a significant public health problem in Africa including Ethiopia. It has multifaceted causes from nutritional deficiency and infections to autoimmune diseases to genetic factors. Iron deficiency (ID) is the leading cause of anemia and is estimated to contribute to 42% of cases in children aged under five years [1]. In its most recent nutritional anemias prevention and control tool, World Health Organization acknowledged the proportion of anemia attributable to ID could be lower than the previously assumed 50% [2]. A national micronutrient survey in Ethiopia reported that iron deficiency anemia (IDA) accounts for 35.8% of anemia cases using sTfR (soluble serum transferrin receptor) among preschool age (6 - 59 months) children [3]. There are other important causes of anemia among preschool and school-age children including folate and vitamin B12 deficiency, acute and chronic infection/inflammation and parasitic infestation. However, evidence on the types of anemia (other than iron deficiency) that contribute to the remaining large portion is not well established. This dataset tries to determine the magnitude and types of anemia in relation to age based on red blood cell (RBC) morphology among 6-59 months old children who visited Hawassa University Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital (HUCRH). Electronic hematological records of all children 6-59 months who visited Hawassa University Comprehensive and Specialized Hospital (HUCRH) for health service and medical care between May 2017 to May 2019 were retrieved from the hospital laboratory. The hematological data retrieved included age, sex and town/city of residence and results of Complete Blood Count (CBC) tests including hemoglobin, hematocrit, RBC count and RBC indices (mean corpuscular volume [MCV], mean corpuscular hemoglobin [MCH] and red cell distribution width [RDW]. HUCRH used CELL-DYN Ruby, SYSMEX and Mindray hematology analyzers to carry out CBC tests. As per WHO guideline, hemoglobin (Hgb) values were adjusted for altitude and anemia was defined as hemoglobin values of < 11.0g/dl. Severity of anemia was categorized as mild, moderate and severe by hemoglobin levels of 10-10.9g/dl, 7-9.9 g/dl and <7 g/dl respectively. Red blood cell indices used to classify anemia were MCV, MCH and RDW. In this dataset, iron deficiency anemia is defined as microcytic (low MCV) and hypochromic (low MCH) anemia with high red cell distribution width (RDW)