GSTM1 and malaria: There were no significant differences in the median counts of neutrophils, lymphocytes or WBCs between the infected and non-infected groups; however, individuals with malaria had significantly lower median values of RBCs (p=0.017), Hb (p=0.0165), haematocrit (p=0.0015), MCV (p=0.00139), platelets (p<0.0001) and plateletcrit (p<0.0001) compared to malaria-negative individuals (Table 3).