Table 2.
Clinical, demographic, and hematological characteristics of the study participants.
| Characteristic | Healthy controls | Parasitemic group | G[−] coinfection | G[+] coinfection | P ∗ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of subjects | 14 | 156 | 22 | 14 | N/A |
| Age, months | 7.07 (11.39) | 9.08 (8.70) | 7.38 (7.50) | 12.11 (9.94) | 0.161 |
| Gender, male/female∗∗ | 8/6 | 88/68 | 6/16 | 5/9 | 0.041 |
| Axillary temperature (°C) | 36.4 (0.4) | 37.5 (1.7) | 38.0 (1.5) | 37.1 (1.6) | 0.141 |
| Glucose (mMol/L) | 4.89 (0.59) | 4.90 (1.48) | 5.59 (1.70) | 5.10 (4.94) | 0.067 |
| WBC (×109/μL) | 10.50 (3.95) | 11.75 (6.95) | 13.35 (9.15) | 9.10 (4.60) | 0.047 |
| Lymphocytes (×103/μL) | 6.70 (2.05) | 5.60 (3.87) | 6.65 (4.20) | 4.80 (4.95) | 0.431 |
| Monocytes (×103/μL) | 0.80 (0.55) | 1.10 (0.90) | 1.15 (0.67) | 0.60 (0.90) | 0.161 |
| Granulocytes (×103/μL) | 3.10 (2.35) | 4.75 (4.17) | 4.75 (5.80) | 2.60 (2.30) | 0.010 |
| Hemoglobin (Hgb, g/dL) | 11.7 (0.8) | 5.9 (3.7) | 5.8 (1.8) | 6.0 (2.8) | 0.594 |
| Hematocrit (Hct, %) | 35.2 (1.9) | 18.8 (11.7) | 19.1 (4.7) | 19.7 (7.4) | 0.792 |
| RBC (×106/μL) | 4.82 (0.31) | 2.85 (1.90) | 2.69 (1.27) | 2.93 (1.09) | 0.642 |
| MCHC (g/dL) | 33.4 (0.9) | 32.5 (2.5) | 30.9 (4.2) | 30.9 (2.8) | 0.003 |
| RDW | 16.4 (4.3) | 21.2 (4.8) | 22.4 (3.9) | 22.7 (5.8) | 0.053 |
| Platelets (×103/μL) | 355 (219) | 153 (111) | 159 (107) | 160 (98) | 0.720 |
| SMA, Hb < 5.0 g/dL; n (%)∗∗ | N/A | 42 (26.9) | 6 (27.3) | 2 (14.3) | 0.562 |
| Mortality, n (%)∗∗∗ | 0 (0) | 6 (3.8) | 2 (9.1) | 0 (0) | 0.459 |
HIV-1 negative children (aged < 3 yrs) infected with P. falciparum malaria were divided into parasitemic (Pf[+]), G[−] bacteremia coinfected, and G[+] bacteremia coinfected groups. In addition, a cohort of afebrile healthy children without parasitemia and hemoglobin (Hb) > 11 g/dL were included as controls to detect depressed cytokine levels associated with infection. WBC: white blood cells; RBC: red blood cells; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; RDW: red cell distribution width. ∗Data are presented as median (interquartile range) and compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test unless stated otherwise. ∗∗Differences in categorical variables were compared using Pearson's χ 2 test. ∗∗∗Generalized Fisher's exact test. Complete blood counts were determined in venous blood using a Coulter AcT diff2 (Beckman Coulter Corp.).