PREVALENCE OF MALARIA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ANEMIA, BLOOD-GLUCOSE LEVELS, AND SERUM SOMATOMEDIN-C (IGF-1) LEVELS IN THE SOLOMON-ISLANDS

As part of establishing effective methods for malaria control, the mal aria-associated nutritional status was surveyed on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands in 1993. A total of 506 residents participated in this study. The slide positive rate for malaria was 54% (275/506) i n all ages, with a high of 79% for children aged 4-6 years. Plasmodium falciparum was the most common species (52%), followed by P. vivax (2 9%). Splenomegaly in children from infants to age 15 was detected at t he rate of 30% (104/343) by the palpation method. Body mass index was lower in Solomon Islanders than for the Japanese population up to 15 y ears old in both genders. Mean values for serum insulin-like growth fa ctor-1 (IGF-I) were also lower in Solomon Islanders in children under 18 years old. The hemoglobin distribution curves were almost identical in the malaria-positive (P(+)) and -negative (P(-1)) groups. The perc entage of cases with less than 80 mg/dl of blood glucose and those wit h less than 50 ng/ml of IGF-1 were higher in the P(+) group than for t he anti-malaria drug-untreated malaria-negative (P(-)D(-)) group. It i s suggested that low blood glucose and low IGF-1 levels may have some relationship with the malaria infection.