Malaria placed a huge burden on human life and has been reported to be a key health problem affecting developing countries. This study was designed to assay for
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) status and
malaria parasite density of individuals with sickle cell gene in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: RESULTS: The study showed a high frequency of
G6PD deficiency (17.78%) in the study area while
G6PD deficiency was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in
HbAA individuals (33.33%) when compared to HbSS (10.00%) and HbAS (10.00%) individuals. The prevalence of
malaria parasitemia and parasite density was comparable in the three
hemoglobin variants. The distribution of
malaria parasitemia and parasite density in both gender among the various
hemoglobin variants showed no association (P > 0.05).
G6PD deficiency distribution in both gender were found to be comparable (P > 0.05). The distribution of
malaria parasitemia in the various
hemoglobin variants in the G6PD-deficient individuals showed no significant difference (P > 0.5). However, the parasite density of the HbAS (3100 ± 1828.48 μL) and HbSS (2400 ± 1687.06 μL) were significantly lower than that of
HbAA (4040 ± 1529.44 μL).
CONCLUSION: