Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40750634›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Impact of asymptomatic malaria infection on children's growth in rural Malawi.

Hany Sady, David Chaima, Lotta Hallamaa, Ulla Ashorn, Jomo Banda, Charles Mangani, John Kamwendo, Kenneth Maleta, Per Ashorn, Yue-Mei Fan

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Malaria Incidence, Growth, and their Relationship among a Cohort of Malawian Children.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2026
    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

10 authors.

Hany Sady *Center for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33014, Finland. hany.redah@tuni.fi.
David Chaima *School of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Lotta HallamaaCenter for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33014, Finland.
Ulla AshornCenter for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33014, Finland.
Jomo BandaSchool of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Charles ManganiSchool of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
John KamwendoSchool of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Kenneth MaletaSchool of Global and Public Health, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
Per AshornCenter for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33014, Finland.
Yue-Mei FanCenter for Child, Adolescent, and Maternal Health Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33014, Finland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Asymptomatic malaria infections are common in endemic regions, yet their impact on children's growth remains inadequately understood. This study investigates the association between asymptomatic malaria and 6-18-month-old children's growth indices in rural Malawi. Dried blood spots from 840 participants in Lungwena Child Nutrition Intervention 5 (LCNI-5) clinical trial were analysed at the baseline (N = 697) and every 3 months for a year. The associations between asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum (determined by real-time PCR), and growth indices (length-for-age Z score (LAZ), weight-for-age Z score (WAZ), and weight-for-length Z score (WLZ)) were examined. Across all ages (6 to 18 months), malaria-positive children had lower mean WAZ (-1.03 vs. -0.87, 95% CI -0.17 - -0.04) and WLZ (-0.03 vs. -0.13, 95% CI -0.22 - -0.06) compared to those uninfected peers, whereas LAZ showed no significant association. However, no significant impact was observed at individual time points, except at 12 months of age. After adjusting for confounders, malaria infection remained associated with poorer children growth outcome. Asymptomatic malaria is linked to impaired growth outcomes among young children in rural Malawi. Targeted interventions aimed at managing asymptomatic malaria could mitigate growth faltering and improve child health in malaria-endemic settings.

Indexed as

Asymptomatic InfectionsChild DevelopmentMalaria, FalciparumFemaleHumansInfantMalawiMalePlasmodium falciparumRural PopulationAsymptomatic malariaChild growthMalawiMalnutritionPlasmodium falciparum

Identifiers

PMID40750634
PMCPMC12317011

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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.