Table 3.
Relationship between acute malnutrition (wasting) and risk of malarial infection (N = 18)
| Author, Year, Reference | WHZ cutoff | Malaria outcome | Risk estimate comparing children below and above WHZ cutoff | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ayana 2015 [49] | < − 2 | Malaria by RDT | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact |
| Bilal Shikur 2016 [28] | < − 2 | Malaria by RDT or blood film | AOR = 0.66 (95% CI = 0.21–2.03) | No impact |
| < − 3 | Malaria by RDT or blood film | AOR = 2.90 (95% CI = 1.14–7.61), P = 0.025 | Increased | |
| Custodio 2009 [30] | < − 2 | Pf malaria parasitemia prevalence | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact |
| Deen 2002 [10] | < − 2 | Malaria episode (fever ≥ 37.5 °C or parasitemia > 5000/μL) | RR = 0.87 (95% CI = 0.69–1.10) | No impact |
| Deribew 2010 [51] | < − 2 | Pf malaria (any parasitemia) | AOR = 0.6 (95% CI = 0.2–1.3), P = 0.18 | No impact |
| Ehrhardt 2006 [11] | < − 2 | Fever | OR = 1.74 (95% CI = 1.16–2.60), P = 0.004 | . |
| < − 2 | Clinical malaria (fever ≥ 37.5 °C plus any parasitemia) | OR = 1.86 (95% CI = 1.14–3.02), P = 0.007 | Increased | |
| Fillol 2009 [27] | < − 2 | Clinical malaria (fever ≥ 37.5 °C plus parasitemia ≥ 3000/μL) | OR = 0.33 (95% CI = 0.13–0.81), P = 0.02 | Decreased |
| < − 2 | High-density parasitemia (geometric mean ≥ 300/μL) | AOR = 0.48 (95% CI = 0.04–5.34), P = 0.55 | No impact | |
| Friedman 2005 [26] | < − 2 | Concurrent malaria (any parasitemia) | AOR = 0.75, P = 0.18 | No impact |
| < − 2 | High-density parasitemia (any species, > 1500–7000/μL) | AOR = 0.96, P = 0.88 | No impact | |
| < − 2 | Clinical malaria (fever plus high-density parasitemia) | AOR = 1.11, P = 0.86 | No impact | |
| < − 2 | Severe anaemia (Haemoglobin < 7 g/dL) | AOR = 2.00, P = 0.04* | . | |
| Genton 1998 [14] | < − 2 | Pf malaria (fever plus any parasitemia) | Adj. rate ratio = 0.92 (95% CI = 0.77–1.11), P = 0.4 | No impact |
| < − 2 | Pf malaria (fever plus parasitemia ≥ 5 × 109/L) | Adj. rate ratio = 0.96 (95% CI = 0.77–1.19), P = 0.69 | No impact | |
| < − 2 | Pf malaria (fever plus parasitemia ≥ 10 × 109/L) | Adj. rate ratio = 0.97 (95% CI = 0.75–1.24), P = 0.78 | No impact | |
| Kateera 2015 [54] | < − 2 | Pf malaria (any parasitemia) | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact |
| Mitangala 2013 [21] | < − 2 | Pf malaria parasitemia (≥ 5000/μL) | AOR = 0.34 (95% CI = 0.08–1.45), P = 0.15 | No impact |
| Muller 2003 [18] | < − 2 | Pf malaria (fever plus parasitemia ≥ 1/μL) | RR = 1.0 (95% CI = 0.9–1.2), P = 0.99 | No impact |
| < − 2 | Pf malaria (fever plus parasitemia ≥ 5000/μL) | RR = 1.0 (95% CI = 0.9–1.2), P = 0.58 | No impact | |
| < − 2 | Pf malaria (fever plus parasitemia ≥ 100,000/μL) | RR = 1.0 (95% CI = 0.5–1.8), P = 0.94 | No impact | |
| Snow 1991 [17] | < − 2 | Clinical malaria (fever plus any parasitemia) | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact |
| < − 2 | Asymptomatic malaria parasitemia | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact | |
| Sumbele 2015 [57] | < − 2 | Clinical malaria parasitemia | Wasted vs. Non-wasted: 6.5% vs. 9.7%, P = 0.78 | No impact |
| < − 2 | Asymptomatic malaria parasitemia | Wasted vs. Non-wasted: 22.6% vs. 26.7%, P = 0.77 | No impact | |
| Takakura 2001 [29] | < − 2 | Pf malaria | Wasted vs. Non-wasted: 17% vs. 4%, P < 0.05 | Increased |
| < − 2 | P. vivax malaria | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact | |
| Uscategui Penuela 2009 [58] | < − 2 | Malaria infection | OR = 2.64 (95% CI = 0.30–23.02), P = 0.38 | No impact |
| Verhoef 2002 [13] | < − 2 | Laboratory confirmed malaria | OR = 0.78 (95% CI = 0.58–1.05), P = 0.1 | No impact |
| William 1997 [31] | < − 2 | Clinical malaria (fever plus para ≥ 1000/μL) | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact |
| < − 2 | P. vivax malaria | “Non-significant association” reported | No impact |
Pf Plasmodium falciparum, WHZ weight-for-height Z-scores, CI confidence interval, OR odds ratio, HR hazard ratio, RR risk ratio, IRR incidence rate ratio, AOR adjusted odds ratio
*Limited to anaemia