1. Hemoglobin C Trait Provides Protection From Clinical Falciparum Malaria in Malian Children.
- Author
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Travassos MA, Coulibaly D, Laurens MB, Dembélé A, Tolo Y, Koné AK, Traoré K, Niangaly A, Guindo A, Wu Y, Berry AA, Jacob CG, Takala-Harrison S, Adams M, Shrestha B, Mu AZ, Kouriba B, Lyke KE, Diallo DA, Doumbo OK, Plowe CV, and Thera MA
- Subjects
- Child, Child, Preschool, Cohort Studies, Female, Hemoglobin, Sickle genetics, Humans, Incidence, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Mali epidemiology, Genetic Predisposition to Disease epidemiology, Genetic Predisposition to Disease genetics, Hemoglobin C genetics, Malaria, Falciparum epidemiology, Malaria, Falciparum genetics
- Abstract
Background: Hemoglobin C trait, like hemoglobin S trait, protects against severe malaria in children, but it is unclear whether hemoglobin C trait also protects against uncomplicated malaria. We hypothesized that Malian children with hemoglobin C trait would have a lower risk of clinical malaria than children with hemoglobin AA., Methods: Three hundred children aged 0-6 years were enrolled in a cohort study of malaria incidence in Bandiagara, Mali, with continuous passive and monthly active follow-up from June 2009 to June 2010., Results: Compared to hemoglobin AA children (n = 242), hemoglobin AC children (n = 39) had a longer time to first clinical malaria episode (hazard ratio [HR], 0.19; P = .001; 364 median malaria-free days vs 181 days), fewer episodes of clinical malaria, and a lower cumulative parasite burden. Similarly, hemoglobin AS children (n = 14) had a longer time to first clinical malaria episode than hemoglobin AA children (HR, 0.15; P = .015; 364 median malaria-free days vs 181 days), but experienced the most asymptomatic malaria infections of any group., Conclusions: Both hemoglobin C and S traits exerted a protective effect against clinical malaria episodes, but appeared to do so by mechanisms that differentially affect the response to infecting malaria parasites., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.)
- Published
- 2015
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