Iron supplements may increase malaria risk

22 February 2011

Supplementation with micronutrients containing iron may increase malaria risk in children with iron deficiency. This is shown by WOTRO researcher Jacobien Veenemans, who received her PhD on 18 February 2011. These results question iron supplementation guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Three-quarters of children in eastern Africa have anaemia, partly due to iron deficiency. These children benefit from iron. But pathogens benefit from iron as well. A former study in Pemba (Tanzania) showed that supplementation with iron and folic acid in African children produced increased rates of hospitalization and death, probably due to malaria. Based on a subgroup analysis, an expert group convened by WHO considers the risk of iron to be limited to iron-replete children, and that iron is safe in children with iron deficiency.

In the study of Jacobien Veenemans, each child was randomly assigned to either a daily mix of micronutrients including iron or a placebo. Strikingly, it was among children with iron deficiency at baseline that the micronutrients resulted in an increased frequency of malaria; by contrast, in those who were iron replete, there was no discernable effect.

Jacobien Veenemans received her PhD on 18 February at the Wageningen University and Research Centre.

Title: Effect of preventive supplementation with zinc and other micronutrients on malaria and diarrhoeal morbidity in African children
Promotors: prof.dr. H.F.J. Savelkoul (Cell Biology and Immunology, WUR), Prof. Andrew M. Prentice (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, MRC International Nutrition Group) and Dr Hans Verhoef (Cell Biology and Immunology, WUR)
Faculty: Cell Biology and Immunology

Source: www.wur.nl