{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T23:27:42Z","timestamp":1771889262282,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,3]],"date-time":"2024-12-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1733184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"\u201cImpuesto Directo a los Hidrocarburos (IDH)\u201d"},{"name":"Swedish Research Council"},{"name":"Swedish International Developing Cooperation Agency (SIDA)"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Anemia is a health problem of concern among schoolchildren in underprivileged rural regions, where recurrent parasitic infections are common. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 229 schoolchildren in rural highland Bolivia in the department of La Paz, an area with a high prevalence of protozoan and helminth infections, to determine the types and mechanisms of anemia. A substantial proportion of children (40.2%) were found to be anemic based on hemoglobin measurements. No associations were found between low hemoglobin levels and helminth or protozoan infections when evaluating infectious causes of anemia, nor with Giardia lamblia or Blastocystis hominis, which are associated with iron deficiency and nutrient malabsorption and were highly prevalent in this study. The significant association between anemia and hypochromia suggests iron deficiency, aligned with low hemoglobin levels. A total of 39 out of 150 children (26%) had markers consistent with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), 26 out of 127 children (20%) met the criteria for anemia of inflammation (AI). Furthermore, 12 of the 127 tested children (9.4%) met the criteria for mixed AI with IDA according to the soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR)\/log ferritin levels, which increased significantly due to overall infections by Hymenolepis nana and Ascaris lumbricoides helminths. The findings highlight the need for integrated public health interventions to address iron nutrition and parasitic infections to effectively prevent anemia in this vulnerable population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12122491","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,3]],"date-time":"2024-12-03T10:52:30Z","timestamp":1733223150000},"page":"2491","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Determinants of Anemia in Schoolchildren in the Highland Bolivia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Washington R.","family":"Cuna","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz 10077, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ivonne","family":"Contreras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz 10077, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Armando","family":"Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz 10077, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3372-2248","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Passera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Sciences, University of Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9643-4342","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Celeste","family":"Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unidad de Inmunolog\u00eda Parasitaria, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Mayor de San Andr\u00e9s, La Paz 10077, Bolivia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1182\/blood-2013-06-508325","article-title":"A systematic analysis of global anemia burden from 1990 to 2010","volume":"123","author":"Kassebaum","year":"2014","journal-title":"Blood"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"649S","DOI":"10.1093\/jn\/131.2.649S","article-title":"A review of studies on the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in children","volume":"131","author":"Ani","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. 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