Association of intestinal helminths and P. falciparum infections in co-infected school children in northwest Tanzania

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum malaria and intestinal helminth infections are among the most common infections in the tropics and they share the same spatial distribution. The objective of this study was to explore the association between infections with intestinal helminths and P. falciparum infection as single helminth infections or co-infections among school children. A cross-sectional study was conducted among (OR= 0.749,, P. falciparum and hookworm (OR= 0.885, In sub-Saharan Africa, the overlapping distribution of P. falciparum and helminths infections is common and resulting into high rates of co-infections (Mazigo et al., 2010). Co-infections of helminth and P. falciparum malaria may results into synergistic or antagonistic association in causing various morbidities in infected individuals (Adrienne et al., 2005). Co-infections of soil-transmitted helminths and Schistosoma mansoni are reported to increase the incidence of clinical malaria in children (Spigel et al., 2003). In Tanzania, concomitant occurrence of asymptomatic malaria and helminth infections have been reported in school children (Mazigo et al., 2010), however, reports on their association in co-infected individuals living in various epidemiological settings in Tanzania are very limited. Thus, the present study was conducted to explore the associations of P. falciparum malaria and helminths infections in co-infected school children living in endemic area of northwest Tanzania.This cross-sectional study used data collected at baseline (before treatment) from 400 school children living and studying in selected schools in Nyamatongo village in Sengerema District in Tanzania. The village is located close to Lake Victoria. The study area, design, inclusion criteria and recruitment procedures have been describe elsewhere (Mazigo et al., 2010). At recruitment, demographic characteristics (age and sex) of the children and a finger prick blood sample were obtained and in this sample, thin and thick blood smears were prepared, stained with Giemsa and examined under the microscopy (Mazigo et al., 2010). Intensity of P. falciparum was estimated as the number of P. falciparum per 200 WBC (Mazigo et al., 2010). A single stool sample collected from primary school by HDM in a labeled container

Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Soil Transmitted Helminth Burden and Their Correlation with Anemia in Children Attending Primary Schools in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

“…No association was found between malaria infection and S. mansoni infection neither between malaria infection and STH infection. This is in total agreement with previously reported data from Tanzania in 2010 [40].…”

Enterobiasis and strongyloidiasis and associated co-infections and morbidity markers in infants, preschool- and school-aged children from rural coastal Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

“…While there are hardly any cross-sectional surveys assessing E. vermicularis infections with appropriate diagnostic methods in sub-Saharan Africa, let alone its potential association with malaria, there are multiple studies investigating associations between hookworm and Plasmodium infections. In line with our findings, there are studies that did not find an association between hookworm and Plasmodium infections [ 67 ],[ 68 ]. Other studies, however, indicate significant associations between these infectious diseases [ 38 ],[ 62 ],[ 69 ].…”

Asymptomatic Malaria and Associated Risk Factors among School Children in Sanja Town, Northwest Ethiopia

“…High prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium infection was observed 26/385 (6.8%) in this geographical setting; this might be the effect of climate change on highland malaria transmission which is strongly dependent on the temperature, because temperature is known to influence transmission intensity through its effects on the population growth of the mosquito vector and on pathogen development within the vector [ 22 ]. This finding is very low compared to a study conducted on school children in Southwest Cameroon, which reported a prevalence of 44.3%, in Yemen 12.8%, in Mount Cameroon region 87.8%, in Osogbo (Nigeria) 25.6%, and in Tanzania 14% [ 23 – 27 ]. The reasons behind this fact remain to be clarified, but we can speculate that this might be associated with biological variability, such as genetic susceptibility related to the presence of sickle cell trait, beta-thalassaemia, or Duffy blood factor [ 28 , 29 ] and differences in exposure to mosquito bites which are related to the living standard of the community, burden of mosquito vector, type of occupational activity, housing characteristics (e.g., screening, roof materials, and open eaves) [ 29 , 30 ], and the use of selected preventative measures [ 31 ].…”