Anaemia and associated parasitic factors among malaria-suspected patients in North Central Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Anaemia, a condition of low haemoglobin levels in blood, is prevalent amongst populations infected with malaria and/or helminths. The burden of anaemia is exacerbated by co-infections with malaria and helminth infections in endemic areas. However, the impact of malaria and helminth infections on the extent of anaemia has barely been explored. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of anaemia and its associated factors, Plasmodium and helminth infections, among malaria-suspected patients in a North Central Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 379 randomly selected malaria-suspected patients attending Shewarobit Health Center from April to May 2023. Blood samples were collected to determine anaemia and malaria. Stool samples were also collected to detect helminthic infections. Anaemia was determined by using the Mindray BC-3000 Plus haematology analyzer. Malaria and helminthic infections were checked by blood film and Kato-Katz test, respectively. Data were entered, cleaned and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26.0 software. The prevalence of anaemia, and parasitic infection were computed with descriptive statistics. Multivariate analysis was used to compute the association between anaemia and risk factors. Variables with p-value < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. The overall prevalence of anaemia among malaria-suspected patients was 30.3%. The prevalence of malaria, A. lumbricoides , hookworm and S. mansoni among malaria-suspected patients was 28%, 12.7%, 7.9% and 8.4%, respectively. The prevalence of severe, moderate and mild anaemia among malaria-suspected cases was 4.7%, 12.4% and 13.2%, respectively. The proportion of anaemia was 87% and 84.6% among P. falciparum and malaria-STHs-co-infected malaria-suspected patients, respectively. Malaria-suspected patients who lived in the rural area, had a previous malaria infection history, and were infected with Plasmodium , hookworm, S. mansoni , and malaria-helminth co-infection were significantly ( p < 0.005 ) associated with anaemia. The burden of anaemia was high among malaria-suspected patients in the study area. Plasmodium , A. lumbricoides , hookworm and S. mansoni alone or their co-infection were associated with anaemia. Hence, integrated screening and management of malaria as well as helminth infections should be coupled with a routine measurement of haemoglobin level in malaria and helminth-co-endemic communities.