Infectious Causes of Anemia: Mechanisms, Pathogens and Precision Management

Infectious causes of anemia represent a major global health burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where malaria, HIV, and bacterial infections are prevalent. Infections contribute substantially to global anemia via coexistent mechanisms: accelerated red-cell destruction (direct parasitism, immune hemolysis), impaired erythropoiesis (transient aplasia, marrow niche injury, inflammatory dyserythropoiesis), and iron dysregulation or outright loss (hepcidin-mediated sequestration, gastrointestinal bleeding, malabsorption). Our aim is to synthesize the principal mechanisms of causing anemia across malaria, parvovirus B19, Helicobacter pylori, hookworm infections, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and tuberculosis, babesiosis, HIV, and visceral leishmaniasis, linking pathobiology to diagnostics and targeted therapy