Cytokine Profiles at Birth Predict Malaria Severity during Infancy
Figure 1
Average parasite densities in children with high and low cord IL-1β levels.
Only infections occurring in the first year of life were included in this analysis, since the association between levels of this cytokine at birth and subsequent parasite levels was only present during infancy (GEE model). (N=504, children with at least one infection during infancy) Concentrations of parasites per μL were estimated by assuming 8000 leukocytes/μL of blood. Children were defined as having high cord IL-1β levels if their IL-1β levels at birth were higher than the median in the study population (6 pg/ml); if IL-1β levels at birth were lower than the median value, these levels were considered low.