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Volume 15, Number 1—January 2009
Dispatch

Microsporidiosis and Malnutrition in Children with Persistent Diarrhea, Uganda

Siobhan M. MorComments to Author , James K. Tumwine, Elena N. Naumova, Grace Ndeezi, and Saul Tzipori
Author affiliations: Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, Massachusetts, USA (S.M. Mor, S. Tzipori); Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (S.M. Mor, E.N. Naumova); Makerere University Medical School, Kampala, Uganda (J.K. Tumwine, G. Ndeezi)

Main Article

Table 1

Clinical features of 224 children with persistent diarrhea with and without cryptosporidisis, Uganda*

Feature Total Microsporidiosis
Crude OR (95% CI) p value†
Yes No
No. patients 224 68 156
Age category, mo (SD)
<6, no. (%) 32 (14.3) 5 (7.4) 27 (17.3) 1.0
7–12, no. (%) 108 (48.2) 31 (45.6) 77 (49.4) 2.2 (0.8–6.2) 0.137
13–24, no. (%) 69 (30.8) 24 (35.3) 45 (28.8) 2.9 (1.0–8.4) 0.048
>25, no. (%)
14 (6.3)
8 (11.8)
6 (3.8)
7.2 (1.7–29.9)
0.004
Female sex, no. (%)
89 (39.7)
29 (42.6)
60 (38.5)
0.8 (0.5–1.5)
0.556
Nutritional status‡
Mean WHZ (SD) –1.44 (1.79) –1.76 (1.83) –1.30 (1.76) 0.077
Mean WAZ (SD) –2.61 (1.41) –2.76 (1.60) –2.55 (1.32) 0.356
Mean HAZ (SD) –2.16 (1.77) –2.10 (1.90) –2.19 (1.73) 0.750
Wasted, no. (%) 94 (42.0) 37 (54.4) 57 (36.5) 2.1 (1.2–3.7) 0.013
Underweight, no. (%) 148 (66.1) 47 (69.1) 101 (64.7) 1.2 (0.7–2.2) 0.525
Stunted, no. (%)
121 (54.0)
39 (57.4)
82 (52.6)
1.2 (0.7–2.2)
0.508
Concurrent cryptosporidiosis, no. (%) 63 (28.1) 55 (80.9) 8 (5.1) 78.3 (30.8–199.1) <0.001
HIV+, no. (%) 77 (34.4) 58 (85.3) 19 (12.2) 41.8 (18.3–95.4) <0.001
HIV+ and cryptosporidiosis, no. (%) 54 (24.1) 51 (75.0) 3 (1.9) 153.0 (43.1–543.5) <0.001

*OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.
†Continuous variables compared by using 2-sided t test. Categorical variables were compared by using Pearson χ2 test.
‡WHZ, weight-for-height z-score; WAZ, weight-for-age z-score; HAZ, height-for-age z-score. Children were considered wasted, underweight, or stunted if WHZ, WAZ, or HAZ were <–2.0, respectively.

Main Article

Page created: November 19, 2010
Page updated: November 19, 2010
Page reviewed: November 19, 2010
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