CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Anaemia is defined as a decrease in the number of red blood cells or less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood (Iwalewa et al, 2009). However, it can include decreased oxygen-binding ability of each hemoglobin molecule due to deformity or lack in numerical development as in some other types of hemoglobin deficiency. Because hemoglobin normally carries oxygen from the lungs to the capillaries, anemia leads to hypoxia in organs. Since all human cells depend on oxygen for survival, varying degrees of anemia has a wide range of clinical consequences. Anaemia is characterized by excessive destruction of erythrocytes at a rate that exceeds the bone marrow‟s capability to compensate for the blood loss (Holy et al, 2015).

Anaemia is one of the clinical conditions that constitute a serious health problem in many tropical countries as a result of the prevalence of different forms of parasitic infections, including malaria (Dacie and Lewis, 1994). In the tropics, due to prevalence of malaria and other parasitic infections, between 10 to 20 % of the population are reported to possess less than 10g/dl of haemoglobin in the blood (Diallo et al, 2008).

Hemolytic Anemia is an acquired type of Anemia caused by hemolysis (premature destruction of red blood cells). Autoimmune hemolytic anemia is the primary type, in which antibodies produced by the immune system damage RBCs. The causes of hemolytic anemia is sometimes unknown or associated with disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus, lymphoma, and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. Other causes are high exposure to certain metals or chemicals (lead, copper, benzene, naphthalene), snake and insect bites, malaria, transfusions, post-surgical complications, and drugs such as methyldopa. In infants, blood group