Anemia and Helicobacter pylori Seroreactivity in a Rural Haitian Population

Anemia is a significant health concern worldwide and can be the result of nutritional, environmental, social, and infectious etiologies. We estimated the prevalence of anemia in 336 pre-school children and 132 adults in the rural Central Plateau of Haiti and assessed associations with age, sex, household size, water source, sanitation, and Helicobacter pylori seroreactivity using logistic regression analysis; 80.1% (269/336) of children and 63.6% (84/132) of adults were anemic. Among children, younger age was associated with increased prevalence of anemia (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 4.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5-11.1 for children 6-11 months compared with children 48-59 months). Among adults, 50.8% were H. pylori-seropositive, and seropositivity was inversely associated with anemia (aOR = 0.4,95% CI = 0.2-0.9). Anemia prevalence in this region of Haiti is very high and not attributable to sanitary conditions or a high prevalence of H. pylori infection.