Etiology of anemia among infants, school-aged children, and young non-pregnant women in different settings of south-central Côte d'Ivoire

Anemia affects one-quarter of the world's population, but its etiology remains poorly understood. We determined the prevalence of anemia and studied underlying risk factors in infants (6-23 months), young school-aged children (6-8 years), and young non-pregnant women (15-25 years) in south-central Cote d'Ivoire. Blood, stool, and urine samples were subjected to standardized quality-controlled methods. We found high prevalence of anemia, malaria, inflammation, and deficiencies of iron, riboflavin, and vitamin A but low prevalence and intensities of soil-transmitted helminth and schistosome infections. Multivariate regression analysis revealed significant associations between anemia and Plasmodium falciparum for infants, inflammation for school-aged children, and cellular iron deficiency for both school-aged children and non-pregnant women. Riboflavin deficiency was a protective factor for anemia in non-pregnant women. Our findings call for interventions to protect infants from malaria, improved intake of dietary iron, and given the importance of anemia of inflammation in school-aged children, regular deworming