Severe iron deficiency anaemia and lice infection

A new case report has linked a young woman’s severe iron deficiency anaemia with chronic lice infection.

A case report by Althomali et al., published in the November 2015 edition of BMJ Case Reports presents a case of a young woman with severe iron deficiency anaemia that could not be explained by the known causes of iron deficiency anaemia.

Although no definite relationship between lice infection and iron deficiency anaemia has been described, the concurrent presence of these two conditions has been reported in humans as well as in cattle.