Amajor cause of anemia in children from sub-Saharan Africa is
a recurrent and chronic parasitemia, and chronic anemia again is
one of the major causes of stunting and morbidity in young children
in sub-Saharan Africa.47 Thus, the indirect protection against
stunting in children by HbAS might provide a further indirect
survival advantage. The observation of a lower risk of malaria but
more severe manifestations in carriers of HbSS corresponds to
recent data from Tanzania.