Fillol Florie auteur aut IRD Cournil Amandine auteur aut IRD Boulanger Denis auteur aut IRD Cissé B. auteur aut IRD Sokhna Cheikh auteur aut IRD Targett G. auteur aut IRD Trape Jean-François auteur aut IRD Simondon François auteur aut IRD Greenwood B. auteur aut IRD Bork Simondon Kirsten auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria and malnutrition are major causes of morbidity and mortality in children less than five years of age. To explore the impact of malnutrition on subsequent susceptibility to malaria, a cohort of 874 rural preschool children in Senegal was followed-up during one malaria transmission season from July through December. Data on nutritional status and Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia were collected at baseline. Malaria morbidity was monitored through weekly home visits. Wasted children (weight-for-height z-score < -2) were at lower risk of having at least one subsequent clinical malaria attack (odds ratio = 0.33; 95% confidence interval = 0.13-0.81, P = 0.02), whereas stunting (height-for-age z-score < -2) or being underweight (weight-for-age z-score < -2) was not associated with clinical malaria. Although non-biological explanations such as overprotection of wasted children by their mothers should be considered, immunomodulation according to nutritional status could explain the lower risk of malaria attack among wasted children. specialized AFRIQUE SUBSAHARIENNE SENEGAL 054EPINUT02 052ANOPAL 80 2 202-208 2009 0002-9637 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010044265 0002-9637 [F B010044265] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010044265 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers17-02/010044265.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2009-03-06 2025-05-22 fdi:010044265 fre