Abstract

*Oden E. M., Eyo O. A. Effanga, E. O., Okete, J. A., Boco E. E.

ABSTRACT

Malaria remains a public health problem in countries of the world where the disease is prevalent. In 2015 alone, it accounted for 429,000 deaths globally according to World Health Organization report. 92% of these deaths occurred in the Africa region. Sickle cell disease is common in people of African descent and in other areas of the world where malaria is prevalent. Epidemiological studies have established an association between Plasmodium falciparum and sickle cell states. Studies have shown that the heterozygous state (HbAS) confers a protective advantage against malaria attacks and its lethal complications which is not seen in the homozygous state (HbSS) and in subjects with normal haemoglobin (HbAA). The mechanism that underpins this phenomenon has been the subject of scientific enquiry for over six decades. 100 subjects with malaria symptoms attending the outpatient’s clinic of the General Hospital Calabar were purposively selected and enlisted for the study which was done between December 2015 and February, 2016. Finger- pricked blood sample was obtained for slide smears, PCV and genotype of participants which comprised 34 persons with normal haemoglobin (HbAA), 34 with HbAS while 30 had HbSS. Only10 out of the 34 carriers (29%) had parasitaemia as against 83% each of those with HbAA and HbSS. The mean parasite count for HbAA subjects (2126, SD1319) was twice as high as that for HbSS (1083, SD729) and seven times higher than in subjects with HbAS (286, SD55). Parasitaemia was significantly associated with genotype with AS being the least likely to be infected (Chi Square 28.68, df 2, and p-value 0.000). We concluded that the carrier state AS protects both against parasitaemia and heavy parasite density.