In this study, normal
ranges for hematology and serum biochemistry in children aged 1 to 5 years inUgandawere determined. By a cross-sectional study, 1168 children from Iganga, a prospective site for clinical trials in Uganda, were screened. From 1168 households, 460 children were selected for enrollment, while 600
(58%) were excluded because of either a history of fever in the previous 24
hours, presence of asexual malaria parasites in the peripheral blood or
presence of fever. Accordingly, 460 children (39.4%) of median age = 3 years were
enrolled in the baseline study. While the lower limits of hemoglobin,
hematocrit levels, mean corpuscular volume and platelet counts for the
Ugandan children were found to be less than conventional reference values of
Caucasisan children, the white blood cell count reference values were higher
than the international intervals. On the other hand, the upper limits of the
reference intervals for serum transaminases, bilirubin, creatinine, urea,
total protein and albumin in sera of the Ugandan children were higher than the
corresponding values for a Caucasian pediatric population. This study showed
that, if hematology test results of the Ugandan children were assessed
against “imported” international reference values, up to 44.6% of the study
participants would have been excluded from clinical trials or would have been
reported as adverse events in such trials. The present study was not only the
first report of serum biochemistry reference ranges for children aged one to
five years in Uganda but also one of very few such studies in Africa.