BackgroundABO blood group antigens are formed by terminal glycosylation of glycoproteins and glycolipid chains present on cell surfaces. Glycosylation modulates all kinds of cell-to-cell interactions and this may be relevant in malaria pathophysiology, in which adhesion has been increasingly implicated in disease severity. This study was done to determine the association between ABO phenotypes and the severity of P. falciparum malaria in children.MethodsOne hundred and twenty one children were assessed at the Department of Child Health, KBTH from May to August 2008. ABO blood groups were determined by agglutination. The haemoglobin measurement was done with the haematology analyzer, Sysmex KX-21N. Malaria parasites were enumerated and the presence of malaria pigment noted. Identification of P. falciparum was done. Statistical tests used were odds ratio and chi square at a significance level of p<0.05.Results24.3% of the 121 children had severe falciparum malaria, and their mean haemoglobin was 4.49 g/dl (SD ±1.69). No significant association was found between the ABO phenotypes and malaria infection (p>0.05). Blood group A was associated with more severe malaria as compared to the blood group O individuals (Odds ratio=0.79, p>0.05); blood group AB (Odds ratio=0.14, p>0.05) and also there was a significant difference in severity of malaria between blood group O and blood group B (Odds ratio=1.28, p>0.05).ConclusionNon-O blood group children are more prone to severe malaria caused by P. falciparum malaria than the group O, despite the lack of significant association between ABO blood groups and falciparum malaria.
We conducted a population-based serosurvey of urban areas and rural regions of southern Ghana, West Africa. Subjects (3763) of all ages were enrolled from 25 city and village sites and in studies of groups of special interest. "Positive" results were difficult to define because of a high frequency of results that were indeterminate on immunoblotting, the current standard for confirmation of HTLV-I. However, polymerase chain reaction results and HTLV type-specific discriminatory tests proved HTLV-I was present in Ghana. No HTLV-2 positivity was observed. By using strict criteria that considered indeterminate results as negative, the overall prevalence was found to be between 1 and 2% in all areas, with no difference by geographic location. Prevalence rose with age and was higher in adult women than men. However, in substudies of selected populations, we found HTLV prevalence among 124 persons with lymphomas and hematological malignancies was not different from that in the general population. Furthermore, the prevalence in prostitutes was similar to that in the general population and in pregnant women. HTLV-I is present in West Africa, but we were unable to associate HTLV-I seropositivity with malignancy or with prostitution.
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