IL13 and parasitic infectious disease: To determine the role of the IL-13 promoter variants (-7402 T/G and -4729G/A) in conditioning susceptibility to SMA, children (n = 387), aged 3–36 months presenting with P. falciparum malaria were categorized into two groups according Hb levels as non-severe malarial anemia (non-SMA, Hb ≥ 6.0 g/dL, any density parasitemia; n = 222) and severe malarial anemia (SMA, Hb < 6.0 g/dL, any density parasitemia; n = 165).