Differing effects of HbS and HbC traits on uncomplicated falciparum malaria, anemia, and child growth.

The high prevalence of hemoglobin S (HbS) in Africa and hemoglobin C (HbC) in parts of West Africa is caused by the strong protection against severe falciparum malaria during childhood. Much less is known about the effect of HbS and especially HbC on Plasmodium falciparum infection, uncomplicated malaria, and anemia. A total of 1070 children from the Ashanti Region, Ghana, were enrolled at the age of 3 months and visited monthly until 2 years of age.

Procalcitonin-a new diagnostic tool in complications following liver transplantation.

Objective: Does procalcitonin (PCT) allow differentiation between infection and rejection following liver transplantation in the case of fever of unknown origin (FUO)?

Design: Open prospective trial.

Setting: transplant intensive care unit at a university hospital.

Patients: Forty patients after liver transplantation.

A randomized controlled trial of extended intermittent preventive antimalarial treatment in infants.

Background: Intermittent preventive antimalarial treatment in infants (IPTi) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine reduces falciparum malaria and anemia but has not been evaluated in areas with intense perennial malaria transmission. It is unknown whether an additional treatment in the second year of life prolongs protection.

Methods: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial with administration of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine therapy at 3, 9, and 15 months of age was conducted with 1070 children in an area in Ghana where malaria is holoendemic.

Seasonal variation and high multiplicity of first Plasmodium falciparum infections in children from a holoendemic area in Ghana, West Africa.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and multiplicity of Plasmodium falciparum infections in Ghanaian infants.

Method: In an epidemiological study in an area holoendemic for malaria in Ghana, the prevalence and multiplicity of P. falciparum infections (MOI) were assessed in 1069 three month-old infants by typing of the genes encoding the merozoite surface proteins 1 and 2 (msp-1, msp-2) over a recruitment period of one year.

Procalcitonin in fever of unknown origin after liver transplantation: a variable to differentiate acute rejection from infection.

Objective: Does procalcitonin (PCT) differentiate between infection and rejection after liver transplantation in patients with fever of unknown origin?

Design: Open prospective trial.

Setting: Transplant intensive care unit at a university hospital.

Patients: Forty patients after liver transplantation.