BMJ  2005;331 (17 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7530.0-a

Placental malaria strikes smaller women more severely

Shortness (stunting) and skeletal smallness and thinness (wasting) of pregnant women are associated with increased risk and increased severity of placental malaria. A cohort study in Congo in 1996-8 by Lovel and colleagues (p 1439) included more than 400 consecutive Bantu women with a singleton pregnancy. The trend in severity suggests the existence of a causative biological mechanism. The authors question whether triaging prophylaxis to short and thin pregnant women would be better than the current treatment only protocol.

Credit: NATALIE BEHRING-CHISHOLM/GETTY IMAGES

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Severe placental malaria and maternal shortness, thinness, and small skeletal size in rural Congo: cohort study

Hermione J Lovel, Rachel M Newby, and Valerie F Hillier
BMJ 2005 331: 1439-1440. [Full Text] [PDF]