Baseline characteristics of the study population.

Deficiency of bone marrow iron stores was defined as a bone marrow iron score of 0 or 1; Deficiency of functional bone marrow iron was defined as <30% iron deficient erythroblasts while having replete iron stores [22], [26]; CRP: C-Reactive Protein; HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus; MCHC: mean cell hemoglobin concentration; MCV mean corpuscular volume; sTfR: soluble transferrin receptor; sTfR-F index: sTfR-log ferritin index31Normally distributed variables are presented with their mean value (s.d.); skewed variable are presented with their median value (inter quartile range). Malaria was defined as a positive blood slide with concurrent fever (axillary temp >37.5°C), or history of fever within the previous 48 hours.