Table 1.
Characteristics of study participants by cohort
| Characteristic | Kenya n = 1484 |
Uganda n = 1374 |
Burkina Faso n = 348 |
South Africa n = 894 |
The Gambia n = 753 |
Pooled n = 4853 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years, n/total (%) | ||||||
| < 1 | 321/1484 (21.6) | 26/1374 (1.9) | 21/348 (6.0) | 475/894 (53.1) | 0/753 (0.0) | 843/4853 (17.4) |
| 1–< 2 | 597/1484 (40.2) | 459/1374 (33.4) | 185/348 (53.2) | 418/894 (46.8) | 16/753 (2.1) | 1675/4853 (34.5) |
| 2–< 3 | 170/1484 (11.5) | 622/1374 (45.3) | 142/348 (40.8) | 1/894 (0.1) | 188/753 (25.0) | 1123/4853 (23.1) |
| 3–< 4 | 159/1484 (10.7) | 176/1374 (12.8) | 0 | 0 | 201/753 (26.7) | 536/4853 (11.0) |
| 4–8 | 237/1484 (16.0) | 91/1374 (6.6) | 0 | 0 | 348/753 (46.2) | 676/4853 (13.9) |
| Age in years, median (IQR) | 1.7 (1.1, 3.1) | 2.0 (2.0, 3.0) | 1.9 (1.6, 2.2) | 1.0 (1.0, 1.0) | 3.8 (2.9, 4.9) | 2.0 (1.0, 3.0) |
| Gender: females, n/total (%) | 726/1484 (48.9) | 678/1374 (49.3) | 173/348 (49.7) | 449/894 (50.2) | 331/753 (46.8) | 2378/4853 (49.0) |
| Underweight*, n/total (%) | 114/429 (26.6) | 113/1368 (8.3) | 60/327 (18.4) | n/a | 150/593 (25.3) | 437/2717 (16.1) |
| Inflammation†, n/total (%) | 392/1437 (27.3) | 316/1337 (23.6) | 112/330 (33.9) | 157/894 (17.6) | 112/753 (14.9) | 1089/4751 (22.9) |
| Malaria‡, n/total (%) | 262/1199 (21.9) | 92/1353 (6.8) | 66/321 (20.6) | n/a | 84/751 (11.2) | 504/4518 (11.2) |
| Parasite density, median (IQR) | 2295 (604, 6619) | 122 (36, 350) | 3714 (887, 18,103) | n/a | n/a | 1386 (224, 5523) |
n/a not available, IQR interquartile range
*Underweight was defined as weight-for-age z-score < − 2. Not measured in the South African cohort
†Inflammation was defined as C-reactive protein > 5 mg/L or α1-antichymotrypsin > 0.6 g/dL (in The Gambia)
‡Malaria was defined as P. falciparum parasitemia and parasite density as parasites/μL. Children in South Africa were not exposed to malaria and parasite density data was not available for The Gambia. Pooled parasite density did not include South African or Gambian data