Prevalence of Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency Among Children Aged 0-5 Years Infected with Plasmodium falciparum in Katsina State, Nigeria

摘要

About 96 million people having Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency worldwide are known to reside in malaria endemic countries and this G6PD-deficiency has been shown to protect against malaria infection, a disease which affect mostly children less than 5 years of age. This study was prompted by the paucity of scientific information on G6PD deficiency for malaria-infected children in Nigeria and so it was designed to determine the prevalence of G6PD deficiency among children (aged 0-5 years) infected with Plasmodium falciparum in Katsina State, a North-western region of Nigeria. A total of 200 blood samples were collected from children with Plasmodium falciparum malaria attending the six selected hospitals located across the three senatorial zones of the state from March 2015 to May 2015. Children’s inform consent was obtained, their socio-demographic information and clinical presentations were also taken with the aid of structured questionnaire. G6PD deficiency was detected qualitatively using G6PD screening test. Thirty two (16%) samples were G6PD deficient and were significantly associated (p0.05) with malaria. Higher prevalence was observed among male children (62.5%) compared with their female counterpart (37.5%). Prevalence rates of 31.25%, 25.00%, 18.75% and 12.50% were seen in children of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years old respectively. These conditions reach life-threatening scenarios for all G6PD deficiency patients with different genetic variants. Hence, individuals that are required to use antimalaria drugs should be screened very carefully for their tendency to have G6PD deficiency. For effective control and treatment, either a reliable test for detecting G6PD deficiency or an anti-malaria drug that can be safely given to G6PD deficiency patients is required. The need for training paediatricians on routine screening of children for G6PD deficiency in developing countries in order to avoid cases of drug-induced anaemia associated with malaria treatment need to be taken into consideration.