| Characteristic | Cases | Controls |
| Recruited | 381 | 23 |
| Age (years)* | 1.7 (1.1) (371) | 1.8 (0.9) (21) |
| Hb (g/dl)* | 3.6 (0.8) (381) | 9.9 (1.8) (23) |
| Male | 178/381 (46.7%) | 19/22 (86.4%) |
| History of previous transfusion | 57/378 (15.1%) | 0/23 (0%) |
| Wasted† | 53/330 (16.1%) | 3/16 (18.8%) |
| Stunted‡ | 176/331 (53.2%) | 7/17 (41.2%) |
| Malaria§ | 226/380 (59.5%) | 0/23 (0%) |
| HIV¶ | 45/357 (12.6%) | 0/9 (0%) |
| Bacteraemia** | 54/359 (15.0%) | 1/14 (7.1%) |
*Mean (SD) (total no).
†Z-score <−2 weight-for-height.
‡Z-score <−2 height-for-age.
§Presence of Plasmodium falciparum asexual parasites in blood.
¶Positive for two rapid tests according to WHO guidelines. Discordant results and reactive results in children less than 18 month were resolved by PCR.19
**Presence of pathogenic bacteria using an automated BacT/Alert system (BioMerieux, Missouri, USA) and cultured for 5 and 56 days for routine pathogens and mycobacteria, respectively.