Anaemia in non-sickling Nigerian children around Enugu.

Severe anaemia often assumes emergency dimensions in West Africa. Previous studies in Nigeria and Ghana incriminate malaria as the main single cause of anaemia in early infancy. This prospective study was conducted to verify this for the Enugu region. The series included 50 anaemic patients aged between 4 months and 10 years admitted to the children's ward. Our results rank poor nutrition much more then malaria among the causes in children under 2 years of age. Hookworm infestation may be a more common cause in children over 2 years.