Hematological Differences among Malaria Patients in Rural and Urban Ghana.
Shareen A Iqbal, Felix Botchway, Kingsley Badu, Nana O Wilson, Yvonne Dei-Adomakoh, Carmen M Dickinson-Copeland, Helena Chinbuah, Andrew A Adjei, Michael Wilson, Jonathan K Stiles, Adel Driss
Author Information
Shareen A Iqbal: Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA 30310-1495.
Felix Botchway: Department of Pathology, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana.
Kingsley Badu: Department of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Nana O Wilson: Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA 30310-1495.
Yvonne Dei-Adomakoh: Department of Haematology, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana.
Carmen M Dickinson-Copeland: Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA 30310-1495.
Helena Chinbuah: Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Andrew A Adjei: Department of Pathology, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana.
Michael Wilson: Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Jonathan K Stiles: Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA 30310-1495.
Adel Driss: Department of Biochemistry & Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA 30310-1495 adel.driss@gmail.com.
BACKGROUND: Scarce studies have addressed hematological differences of malaria in urban and rural regions. METHODS: Full or complete blood cell counts from 46 and 75 individuals (age range from < 1 to 92 years) with uncomplicated malaria infection living in urban (Accra) and rural (Dodowa) Ghana, respectively, were assessed. Sickle cell trait and patients were excluded from the study. RESULTS: Between overall groups, patients from Accra had significantly lower parasite count (p < 0.0001) and granulocyte number (p = 0.026). Children in Accra had a significantly lower parasitemia (p = 0.0013), hemoglobin (p = 0.0254), platelet count (p = 0.0148) and red blood cell levels (p = 0.0080) when compared with the children of Dodowa. In adults, mean cell hemoglobin (p = 0.0086) and parasite count (p < 0.0001) were significantly higher in Dodowa. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that children living in urban setting may experience a greater anemic effect to malaria as compared with those living in a rural setting.
