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Previous Volume 328:1127-1128 April 15, 1993 Number 15 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Gordeuk et al. (Nov. 19 issue)¹ suggest that iron deficiency may protect against malaria. It does not. Of 101 children with malaria and anemia studied in Kenya, 15 had iron deficiency². The development of malaria was not impaired because plasmodia obtain their iron from hemoglobin in iron-deficient red cells³.

Ten of the children in Kenya had sickle cell disease,² which, like thalassemia, is usually protective against malaria³. They had been taking folate supplements because of the increased need for folate in chronic hemolytic anemias and thus did not have the folate deficiency otherwise common . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Campbell, N. R. C. (1996). How Safe Are Folic Acid Supplements?. Arch Intern Med 156: 1638-1644 [Abstract]