Malaria parasitemia and childhood diarrhea in a peri-urban area of Guinea-Bissau

To examine the association between diarrhea in early childhood and malaria parasitemia, we conducted a nested case-control study in Guinea-Bissau of 2 97 children with diarrhea and a similar number of children without diarrhea matched for age, season, and residential area. There were no associations between diarrhea and parasite rate, parasite density, or clinical malaria. However, anti-malarials were easily available and frequently used, which wa s reflected by a 0.7% prevalence of children with a parasite density > 100/ 200 leukocytes. Thus, the findings do not preclude that diarrhea may be a s ign of clinical malaria or high-parasite density in endemic areas with lowe r use of antimalarials.