Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29140587›Full record

ArticleTropical medicine & international health : TM & IH2018

Comparison of haematology and biochemistry parameters in healthy South African infants with laboratory reference intervals.

B-M Schmidt, M Tameris, H Geldenhuys, A Luabeya, E Bunyasi, T Hawkridge, J B McClain, H Mahomed, T J Scriba, H McShane and 1 more

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. What's in a number: Falling on the sword of cut-off points and reference limits?Journal of the colleges of medicine of South Africa · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

B-M SchmidtSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
M TamerisSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
H GeldenhuysSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
A LuabeyaSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
E BunyasiSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
T HawkridgeDepartment of Health, South Africa.
J B McClainAeras, Rockville, MD, USA.
H MahomedDepartment of Health, South Africa.
T J ScribaSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
H McShaneNuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
M HatherillSouth African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and Division of Immunology, Department of Pathology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePaediatric laboratory reference intervals used in Africa and Asia may be derived from historical intervals of predominantly Caucasian infants in Europe or North America. These intervals may therefore not be compatible with the range of normality for developing country populations. We aimed to compare haematology and biochemistry parameters in healthy South African infants with local laboratory reference intervals.

methodsWe compared the baseline haematology and biochemistry results of 634 (316 male and 318 female) HIV-unexposed infants, aged 3-6 months, living in a rural area of the Western Cape Province, South Africa, against laboratory reference intervals supplied by the South African National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS). We calculated the percentage of observed values out of bound (in terms of lower and upper limits) compared to laboratory reference intervals.

resultsOf the 634 healthy infants screened, 316 (49.84%) were male and 318 (50.16%) female. A majority (91.05%) had platelet counts above the laboratory reference interval upper limit (350 × 10

conclusionsHaematology and biochemistry parameters in apparently healthy South African infants deviate frequently from national laboratory reference intervals, including abnormalities consistent with subclinical hypochromic microcytic anaemia. It is important that clinical laboratory reference intervals for children are derived locally, rather than being adopted from Caucasian norms in developed countries, because clinical trials of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics are increasingly conducted in sub-Saharan Africa.

Indexed as

Infant WelfareReference StandardsBlood Cell CountChemistry, ClinicalFemaleHematologyHumansInfantMalePublic Health SurveillanceReference ValuesSouth Africabiochemistrybiochimieclinical trialessai cliniquehaematologyhématologieintervalle de référencenourrissons sud-africainsreference intervalSouth African infants

Identifiers

PMID29140587
PMCPMC6571525

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.