Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics of infants at birth and cumulative P. falciparum infections after 6 months of age

From: Plasmodium falciparum infection and disease in infancy associated with increased risk of malaria and anaemia in childhood

Characteristics of infants and mothers in Liwonde and Mfera cohorts

 

All

(N = 437)

Any malaria infection

Asymptomatic P. falciparum infection

Clinical malaria

Yes

(n = 127)

No

(n = 310)

P-value

Yes

(n = 99)

No

(n = 289)

P-value

Yes

(n = 49)

No

(n = 388)

P-value

Infant sexa

Male

195 (45)

58 (46)

137 (45)

0.79b

43 (44)

124 (43)

0.93b

28 (57)

167 (43)

0.07b

Study site

Liwonde

Mfera

344 (79)

93 (21)

93 (73)

34 (27)

251 (81)

59 (19)

0.07b

81 (82)

18 (18)

237 (82)

52 (18)

0.97b

26 (53)

23 (47)

318 (82)

70 (18)

 < .0001b

Season of birth

Rainy

146 (33)

55 (43)

91 (29)

0.005b

43 (43)

85 (29)

0.01b

18 (37)

128 (33)

0.60b

Maternal gravidity

Mean (SD)

1.9 (1.8)

2.1 (1.9)

1.8 (1.7)

0.08c

1.9 (1.8)

1.8 (1.7)

0.44c

2.2 (2.1)

1.8 (1.7)

0.21c

Maternal age (years)

Mean (SD)

25 (6)

26 (7)

25 (6)

0.05c

26 (7)

25 (6)

0.06c

25 (7)

25 (6)

0.82c

Rainy season (%)

Mean (SD)

53 (7)

52 (7)

54 (7)

0.0009c

52 (7)

54 (7)

0.005c

52 (7)

54 (7)

0.19c

Low birthweight (< 2.5 kg)

Yes

34 (8)

9 (7)

25 (8)

0.73b

7 (7)

23 (8)

0.78b

4 (8)

30 (8)

0.92b

Characteristics of infants and mothers in the Mfera cohort only

  

All (N = 93)

Yes (n = 39)

No (n = 54)

P-valuea

Yes (n = 20)

No (n = 50)

P-valuea

Yes (n = 23)

No (n = 70)

P-valuea

Infant sex

Male

42 (45)

19 (49)

23 (43)

0.56

9 (45)

21 (42)

0.82

12 (52)

30 (43)

0.44

Season of birth

Rainy

25 (27)

16 (41)

9 (17)

0.009

8 (40)

9 (18)

0.05

8 (35)

17 (24)

0.32

Maternal gravidity

Mean (SD)

2.6 (2.1)

2.7 (2.1)

2.5 (2.1)

0.56c

2.7 (1.8)

2.6 (2.1)

0.89c

2.6 (2.4)

2.6 (2.5)

0.95c

Maternal age in years, mean (SD)

 

26 (7)

27 (6)

26 (7)

0.61b

27 (6)

26 (7)

0.79b

26 (7)

26 (7)

0.76b

  1. aMissing 4 infant sex values; bChi-square; cStudent’s t-test