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Acute vs Delayed Iron: Effect On Red Cell Iron Incorporation In Severe Malaria

Key Contact: Sarah Cusick | Visit Activity Website

Activity Dates: 7/20/2012 - 12/31/2015

Country(ies): Uganda

Contact Information

scusick@umn.edu
612-625-8383

Activity Description

Approximately 1 million children < age 5 living in sub-Saharan Africa die from severe anemia annually. This severe anemia frequently results from coexisting iron deficiency and malaria infection, but the standard of care, concurrent iron therapy, and antimalarial treatment has proven ineffective at resolving anemia and has increased the rate of clinical malaria in some studies.

The pro-inflammatory immune response mounted against malaria down-regulates iron absorption in the gut, making provision of oral iron supplements during malarial infection of questionable utility. This study, based in Kampala, Uganda, uses iron stable isotopes and a randomized design to test whether starting 4 weeks of iron therapy immediately after antimalarial treatment or 4 weeks later is associated with greater iron incorporation into red blood cells at the time of initial administration of iron therapy and improved long-term hematological recovery.

Activity Types

Research

Academic Health Center Units

Medical School
     Department of Pediatrics

Partner Organizations

Global Health Uganda

Sponsors

National Institutes of Health
5R03HD074262-02

Activity Topics

Child Health, Malaria, Nutrition

Special Tags

CGHSR Scholars, Fogarty Global Health Fellowship Site

Status

Current