Anaemia in hospitalised preschool children from a rural area in Mozambique: a case control study in search for aetiological agents

BACKGROUND: Young children bear the world's highest prevalence of anaemia, the majority of which is of multifactorial aetiology, which in turn hampers its successful prevention. Even moderate degrees of anaemia are associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Despite this evidence, there is a lack of effective preventive programs and absence of consensus in the safety of iron supplementation in malaria areas, which reflects the poor understanding of the contribution of different aetiologies to anaemia. In order to reduce the anaemia burden in the most vulnerable population, a study to determine the aetiology of anaemia among pre-school Mozambican children was performed.