Anemia is the most common hematological abnormalities in HIV
patients and it is a wide spread public health problem. The World Health
Organization estimates that over 2 billion people are anemic worldwide with
more than 100 million of these anemic children living in Africa. In Ethiopia,
there is limited information about the prevalence and factors associated with
anemia among HIV positive children. Thus, this study aimed to determine the
prevalence and associated factors of anemia among HIV infected children aged 6
months to 14 years in Gondar university Hospital antiretroviral treatment
clinic.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 265 HIV infected
children from February to June 2013 on HIV infected children attending Gondar
university Hospital ART clinic. The study subjects were selected with systematic
random sampling technique. Data of socio demographic characteristics and
clinical conditions of the study subjects was collected using a structured
pretested questionnaire. Hemoglobin value and CD4 counts were determined by
cell Dyne 1800 and FACS count machine respectively. WHO Cut off value of
hemoglobin was taken and adjusted to altitude to define anemia. Data was
analyzed by using the SPSS version 20 statistical software and bivariate and
multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors.
Anemia was present in 16.2 % (43 /265) of children,
60.5 % of them had mild anemia, 37.2 % had moderate anemia and
2.3 % had severe anemia. About 46.5 % of anemic children had
normocytic-normochromic anemia followed by macrocytic-normochromic anemia
(39.5 %). In this study, anemia was associated with eating green leafy
vegetables (OR = 0.43, 95 % CI (0.188–0.981) and being on cotrimoxazole
treatment (OR = 2.169, 95 % CI (1.047–4.49). But there was no significant
association with age, sex, WHO clinical stage, opportunistic infections,
intestinal parasitic infection and CD4 count percentage.
The majority of HIV positive children in Northwest Ethiopia
have a mild type of anemia and the increase in prevalence of anemia is due to
being on cotrimoxazole and eating green leafy vegetables. Therefore, early
diagnosis and treatment of anemia is essential in these patients.
Below: Type of anemia among HIV positive children attending Gondar University Hospital ART Clinic from February – June, 2013, Northwest Ethiopia
Full article at: http://ht.ly/SRZbA
By: 
Meseret Alem, Mulugeta Melku, Zelalem Addis, Betelihem Terefe, and Gashaw Yitayew
Meseret Alem, Mulugeta Melku, Zelalem Addis, Betelihem Terefe, and Gashaw Yitayew
Department of Immunology and Molecular Biology, School of Biomedical and Laboratory Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical and Laboratory Sciences, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
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