Reduced Parasite Burden in Children with Falciparum Malaria and Bacteremia Coinfections: Role of Mediators of Inflammation
Table 2
Clinical, demographic, and hematological characteristics of the study participants.
Characteristic
Healthy controls
Parasitemic group
G[−] coinfection
G[+] coinfection
Number of subjects
14
156
22
14
N/A
Age, months
7.07 (11.39)
9.08 (8.70)
7.38 (7.50)
12.11 (9.94)
0.161
Gender, male/female
8/6
88/68
6/16
5/9
0.041
Axillary temperature (°C)
36.4 (0.4)
37.5 (1.7)
38.0 (1.5)
37.1 (1.6)
0.141
Glucose (mMol/L)
4.89 (0.59)
4.90 (1.48)
5.59 (1.70)
5.10 (4.94)
0.067
WBC (×109/μL)
10.50 (3.95)
11.75 (6.95)
13.35 (9.15)
9.10 (4.60)
0.047
Lymphocytes (×103/μL)
6.70 (2.05)
5.60 (3.87)
6.65 (4.20)
4.80 (4.95)
0.431
Monocytes (×103/μL)
0.80 (0.55)
1.10 (0.90)
1.15 (0.67)
0.60 (0.90)
0.161
Granulocytes (×103/μL)
3.10 (2.35)
4.75 (4.17)
4.75 (5.80)
2.60 (2.30)
0.010
Hemoglobin (Hgb, g/dL)
11.7 (0.8)
5.9 (3.7)
5.8 (1.8)
6.0 (2.8)
0.594
Hematocrit (Hct, %)
35.2 (1.9)
18.8 (11.7)
19.1 (4.7)
19.7 (7.4)
0.792
RBC (×106/μL)
4.82 (0.31)
2.85 (1.90)
2.69 (1.27)
2.93 (1.09)
0.642
MCHC (g/dL)
33.4 (0.9)
32.5 (2.5)
30.9 (4.2)
30.9 (2.8)
0.003
RDW
16.4 (4.3)
21.2 (4.8)
22.4 (3.9)
22.7 (5.8)
0.053
Platelets (×103/μL)
355 (219)
153 (111)
159 (107)
160 (98)
0.720
SMA, Hb < 5.0 g/dL; (%)
N/A
42 (26.9)
6 (27.3)
2 (14.3)
0.562
Mortality, (%)
0 (0)
6 (3.8)
2 (9.1)
0 (0)
0.459
HIV-1 negative children (aged < 3 yrs) infected with P. falciparum malaria were divided into parasitemic (Pf[+]), G[−] bacteremia coinfected, and G[+] bacteremia coinfected groups. In addition, a cohort of afebrile healthy children without parasitemia and hemoglobin (Hb) > 11 g/dL were included as controls to detect depressed cytokine levels associated with infection. WBC: white blood cells; RBC: red blood cells; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; RDW: red cell distribution width. Data are presented as median (interquartile range) and compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test unless stated otherwise. Differences in categorical variables were compared using Pearson’s test. Generalized Fisher’s exact test. Complete blood counts were determined in venous blood using a Coulter AcT diff2 (Beckman Coulter Corp.).
