The effects of co-infection with human parvovirus B19 and Plasmodium falciparum on type and degree of anaemia in Ghanaian children.

Objective: To determin the extent to which parvovirus B19 (B19V) and co-infection of B19V and malaria contribute to risk of anaemia in children.

Methods: B19V DNA and malaria parasites were screened for 234 children at the PML Children's Hospital in Accra. The role of B19V and co-infection with B19V and malaria in anaemia was evaluated by analysing full blood cell counts, malaria and B19V DNA results from these children.

Pediatric diarrhea in southern Ghana: etiology and association with intestinal inflammation and malnutrition.

Diarrhea is a major public health problem that affects the development of children. Anthropometric data were collected from 274 children with (N = 170) and without (N = 104) diarrhea. Stool specimens were analyzed by conventional culture, polymerase chain reaction for enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC), Shigella, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba, and Giardia species, and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for fecal lactoferrin levels.