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Reducing malarial infections may lead to reductions in bacterial disease
Scott JAG. Lancet. 2011;doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60888-X.
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Programs that are targeted at reducing malaria infection could also have an effect on invasive bacterial disease in areas where malaria is common, according to a study published online this week.
J. Anthony G. Scott, FRCP, and colleagues of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Program in Kenya examined the risk for invasive bacterial disease in Kenyan children who inherited one gene for sickle cell disease, which is known to be protective against malaria.
In Kilifi, Kenya, the incidence of admission to hospital with malaria decreased almost 90%, from 28.5 to 3.45 per 1,000 childhood years, during the study period of 1999 to 2007. The researchers measured rates of bacteremia during the same period and examined 1,454 children admitted to the hospital and about 11,000 controls. They found that the rate of admission to hospital with bacteremia decreased by 44%, from 2.59 to 1.45 per 1,000 childhood years. The study researchers said, however, that among the children with sickle cell disease, the protection observed against bacteremia disappeared as malaria also disappeared.
“We showed that children with sickle cell trait, who have a natural protection against malaria, are also protected against bacteremia, but only because they are less likely to develop malaria,” Thomas N. Williams, MRCP, a senior scientist working on the research, said in a press release. “The gene itself is not offering direct protection. This implies very strongly that infection with malaria makes children more susceptible to bacteremia.”
Disclosure: Funding for the study came from Wellcome Trust. The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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