Prevalence of anaemia in Thai soldiers

Abstract

The prevalence of anaemia was investigated in 281 soldiers from various camps of Thailand. Haemoglobin, haematocrit, serum iron, unsaturated iron binding capacity, serum folate and vitamin B 12 and stool examination were determined in these subjects. The prevalence of anaemia defined as haemoglobin or haematocrit equal to or less than 13 gm% and 39% were 6.4% and 6.8%, respectively. respectively. A total of 174 cases (62%) were found to be infected with the intestinal parasites and 118 cases (42%) had hookworm infection. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean values of haemoglobin concentration or the number of anaemic cases in the hookworm infected group and the non-infected group. These findings indicated that hookworm infection was not the major cause of anaemia in the present study. Serum vitamin B 12 level was found to be lower than 150 pg/ml in 3 cases (1.06%) while serum folate level was lower than 3 ng/ml in 74 cases (26.33%).