Hematology and blood serum chemistry reference intervals for children in Iganga district of Uganda

Abstract

In this study, normal ranges for hematology and serum biochemistry in children aged 1 to 5 years in Uganda were determined. By a cross-sectional study, 1168 children from Iganga, a prospective site for clinical trials in Uganda, were screened. From 1168 households, 460 children were selected for enrollment, while 600 (58%) were excluded because of either a history of fever in the previous 24 hours, presence of asexual malaria parasites in the peripheral blood or presence of fever. Accordingly, 460 children (39.4%) of median age = 3 years were enrolled in the baseline study. While the lower limits of hemoglobin, hematocrit levels, mean corpuscular volume and platelet counts for the Ugandan children were found to be less than conventional reference values of Caucasisan children, the white blood cell count reference values were higher than the international intervals. On the other hand, the upper limits of the reference intervals for serum transaminases, bilirubin, creatinine, urea, total protein and albumin in sera of the Ugandan children were higher than the corresponding values for a Caucasian pediatric population. This study showed that, if hematology test results of the Ugandan children were assessed against "imported" international reference values, up to 44.6% of the study participants would have been excluded from clinical trials or would have been reported as adverse events in such trials. The present study was not only the first report of serum biochemistry reference ranges for children aged one to five years in Uganda but also one of very few such studies in Africa.

Reference intervals for hematology test parameters from apparently healthy individuals in southwest Ethiopia

“…9 The lower limit of the RI of Hb, Hct, mean cell volume (MCV), and PLT counts for the Ugandan children was found to be less than the conventional RI of Caucasian children while the lower limit of WBC count was higher. 19 …”

Malariometric indices from Iganga, Uganda: baseline characterization in preparation of GMZ2 vaccine trial

“…A representative cohort of 748 children aged 1–5 years participated in a six month longitudinal study to determine the malaria episodes, the normal reference hematological and biochemical ranges which have been reported elsewhere [ 12 ] and also provide recruitment for a malaria vaccine study. The sample size of 300 per arm was estimated based on assumptions of malaria incidence of 15% in the active arm, with 95% confidence interval, and ability to detect a vaccine efficacy of 30%.…”

“…The objective of the current study was to describe the baseline malariometric indices including spleen rate, bed net use, in Iganga district, Uganda. Results from this study were used together with other data [ 12 ] to provide guidance in conducting as well as setting up a cohort for GMZ2 [ 13 ] vaccine trial.…”

Provisional Study of Kuwait Adult Hematology Reference Range

“…Therefore, each population must establish its own normal reference range values for use in clinical assessments [19]. Based on such findings, it is clear that the use of international reference values generated from distant or dissimilar populations may misguide the local interpretation of blood cell counts findings, thus causing not only misdiagnosis but also misreporting of adverse events, and affecting the treatment plans [11,20].…”

“…Based on such findings, it was clear that the use of reference values generated from distant or dissimilar populations may misguide the local interpretation of blood cell count findings causing not only misdiagnosis but also misreporting of adverse events [11]. Therefore, in this study, we compared our obtained results as adult provisional Kuwaiti hematology reference range (APK-HRR) with the adult United Kingdom reference range (AUK-HRR), which is in use as a reference standard in our laboratory to interpret the results of the Kuwaiti population since decades.…”