title: Birthweight in offspring of mothers with high prevalence of helminth and malaria infection in coastal Kenya.
abstract: Results of studies on the associations of maternal helminth infection and malaria-helminth co-infection on birth outcomes have been mixed. A group of 696 pregnant women from the Kwale district in Kenya were recruited and tested for malaria and helminth infection at delivery. Birthweight was documented for 664 infants. A total of 42.7% of the mothers were infected with Plasmodium falciparum, 30.6% with Schistosoma haematobium, 36.2% with filariasis, 31.5% with hookworm, and 5.9% with Trichuris trichiura; co-infection was present in 46.7%. Low birthweight (LBW) (weight < 2,500 grams) was present in 15.4% of the offspring, and 8.3% had a weight z-score ≤ 2 SD below the World Health Organization mean. Only gravida, age, and locale had a significant association with LBW. The high prevalence of maternal infection coupled with a higher than expected percentage of LBW highlight a need for further investigation of the association of maternal co-infection with LBW.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30308, USA. jessica.fairley@emory.edu
authors.forename: Jessica K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Fairley
authors.forename: Donal
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bisanzio
authors.forename: Charles H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Uriel
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kitron
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mungai
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muchiri
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Indu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Malhotra
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence