ArticleMalaria journal2018
Malaria causes long-term effects on markers of iron status in children: a critical assessment of existing clinical and epidemiological tools.
Article in Malaria journal, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Iron Deficiency Is Associated With Reduced Levels of Plasmodium falciparum-specific Antibodies in African Children.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Pooled it
- Hepcidin is low in children with moderate acute malnutrition and asymptomatic malaria: secondary analysis of a 2×2×3 factorial randomised trial in Burkina Faso.The British journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Soya, maize and sorghum ready-to-use therapeutic foods are more effective in correcting anaemia and iron deficiency than the standard ready-to-use therapeutic food: randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2019Trial
- Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Criteria Overlap with Severe Malaria Features in Children.Open forum infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Effect of Iron-Containing Micronutrient Powders on Growth and Malaria-Induced Anaemia Among Preschool Children in Ghana: A Cluster-Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Iron homeostasis and cytokine responses in Gabonese children with febrile illness.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- Deposition of complement regulators on the surface of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites depends on the immune status of the host.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Longitudinal changes in iron homeostasis in human experimental and clinical malaria.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Universal iron supplementation: the best strategy to tackle childhood anaemia in malaria-endemic countries?Wellcome open research · 2023Review
- Correction to: Malaria causes long-term effects on markers of iron status in children: a critical assessment of existing clinical and epidemiological tools.Malaria journal · 2022Article
- Red blood cell homeostasis in children and adults with and without asymptomatic malaria infection in Burkina Faso.PloS one · 2020Article
- Acquisition and decay of IgM and IgG responses to merozoite antigens after Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Ghanaian children.PloS one · 2020Article
- Analysis of the relationship between malaria and inflammatory biomarker levels in children in rural Iraq: Impact of nutritional deficiencies, anemia, and hematological disorders.Tropical parasitologyArticle
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMost epidemiological studies on the interplay between iron deficiency and malaria risk classify individuals as iron-deficient or iron-replete based on inflammation-dependent iron markers and adjustment for inflammation by using C-reactive protein (CRP) or α-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). The validity of this approach and the usefulness of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) as a proposed inflammation-independent iron marker were tested.
methodsConventional iron markers and FGF23 were measured in children with acute falciparum malaria and after 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks. Children, who were transfused or received iron supplementation in the follow-up period, were excluded, and iron stores were considered to be stable throughout. Ferritin levels 6 weeks after admission were used as a reference for admission iron status and compared with iron markers at different time points.
resultsThere were long-term perturbations in iron markers during convalescence from acute malaria. None of the tested iron parameters, including FGF23, were independent of inflammation. CRP and AGP normalized faster than ferritin after malaria episodes.
conclusionMalaria may bias epidemiological studies based on inflammation-dependent iron markers. Better markers of iron status during and after inflammation are needed in order to test strategies for iron supplementation in populations at risk of malaria.
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Registered trials
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