Global health experts have warned against giving iron supplements in areas where malaria is rampant, but a study Tuesday found no rise in cases of the mosquito-borne disease among children who took iron.
However, hospital visits for severe diarrhea episodes were significantly higher among children in Ghana given extra iron, raising questions about its safety, experts said.
Malaria is a leading cause of death among children in sub-Saharan Africa, while iron deficiency is one of the area’s most common nutritional deficiencies.
Nearly 2,000 children, aged six months to almost three years old, were part of the randomized study led by Stanley Zlotkin of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Children who were given a micronutrient powder (MNP) containing iron for five months showed no higher incidence of malaria than those who did not get the supplements. All were given insecticide-treated bed nets.
The findings contrast with previous research that has suggested iron-deficiency anemia may protect against malaria, and that iron supplements may make malaria more deadly.
In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urged that in malaria-endemic areas, iron supplements be given only to children with anemia and at risk of iron deficiency.
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