Malaria and Anaemia in Pregnant Women in Urban Zanzibar, Tanzania

Severe anaemia in pregnancy is a major obstetric problem in malaria-endemic areas. This study reports a cross-sectional investigation of malaria infection and haematological values at delivery in 440 women from urban Zanzibar. Severe anaemia [with haemoglobin (Hb)≤7 g/dl] was identified in 36 women (9·3%) and mild anaemia (7Malaria infection was diagnosed in 187/385 women (48·6%) on the basis of either peripheral blood examination or placental histology. Univariate analysis indicated that the proportion of women with anaemia was similar in those with (85%) and without (80%) malaria infection. However, when primigravidae were considered alone, malaria infection was significantly more frequent among anaemic women (65·2%) than in those with normal Hb values (40·0%). In the logistic regression analysis, including age, parity, education level, malaria and free serum iron as independent variables and anaemia (Hb ≤ 10 g/dl) as response vari...