The relationship between anaemia and malaria: apparently simple, yet controversial

Among many other factors, malaria plays a major causative role of anaemia globally. The mechanisms leading to anaemia in the course of malaria are extremely diverse, involving immunological factors that act differently according to age and malaria epidemiology. The malaria-attributable fraction of anaemia may then differ in different settings. While tremendous efforts are being made to control malaria, the availability of a simple and reliable biomarker of impact is of the upmost importance. Promising data are accumulating that Hb levels could be used as a proxy of malaria even in hypo-endemic areas, even if many grey areas still deserve research efforts.