Bacteraemia in sickle cell anaemia is associated with low haemoglobin: a report of 890 admissions to a tertiary hospital in Tanzania.

Julie Makani

; Josephine Mgaya; Emmanuel Balandya; Khadija Msami; Deogratias Soka; Sharon E Cox

; Albert N Komba; Stella Rwezaula; Elineema Meda; David Muturi; +6 more... Jesse Kitundu; Gregory Fegan; Fenella J Kirkham; Charles R Newton; Robert W Snow; Brett Lowe; (2015) Bacteraemia in sickle cell anaemia is associated with low haemoglobin: a report of 890 admissions to a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. British journal of haematology, 171 (2). pp. 273-276. ISSN 0007-1048 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.13553

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Bacteraemia is a leading cause of morbidity in sickle cell anaemia (SCA), but information from studies in Africa is limited. We evaluated 890 admissions from 648 SCA patients at a tertiary hospital in Tanzania. Bacteraemia was present in 43 admissions (4·8%); isolates included Staphylococcus aureus (12/43; 28%), non-Typhi Salmonella (9/43; 21%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (3/43; 7%) and Salmonella Typhi (2/43; 5%). Compared to SCA patients without bacteraemia, SCA patients with bacteraemia had significantly lower haemoglobin [71 g/l vs. 62 g/l, odds ratio 0·72 (95% confidence interval 0·56-0·91), P < 0·01]. Further exploration is needed of the relationship between anaemia and bacterial infections in SCA in Africa.