Schistosoma mansoni in pregnancy and associations with anaemia in northwest Tanzania

A Ajanga, NJS Lwambo, L Blair… - Transactions of the …, 2006 - academic.oup.com
A Ajanga, NJS Lwambo, L Blair, U Nyandindi, A Fenwick, S Brooker
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2006academic.oup.com
Schistosomiasis among pregnant women has been inadequately investigated. In order to
determine the importance of Schistosoma mansoni in this subgroup, we conducted a cross-
sectional survey of 972 women in Tanzania and investigated the prevalence of Schistosoma
mansoni, hookworm and malaria and their associations with anaemia. Overall, 63.5% of
women were infected with S. mansoni, with prevalence highest among younger women and
decreasing with increasing age. The prevalence of hookworm was 56.3%, and 16.4% of …
Summary
Schistosomiasis among pregnant women has been inadequately investigated. In order to determine the importance of Schistosoma mansoni in this subgroup, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 972 women in Tanzania and investigated the prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni, hookworm and malaria and their associations with anaemia. Overall, 63.5% of women were infected with S. mansoni, with prevalence highest among younger women and decreasing with increasing age. The prevalence of hookworm was 56.3%, and 16.4% of women had malaria parasitaemia. Overall, 66.4% of women were anaemic. Increased risk of anaemia was associated with heavy infection with S. mansoni but not hookworm or Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia.
Oxford University Press