Comments on “Risk factors for malaria infection and anemia for pregnant women in the Sahel area of Bandiagara, Mali” by A. Dicko et al. [Acta Trop. 89 (2003) 17–23

Abstract

It has been concluded that younger women in their first trimester of pregnancy were at risk of malaria. Thus control measures against malaria infection should target younger rural women in their first trimester of pregnancy. However in this study the last menstrual history was used for diagnosis and timing of pregnancy. This is a very crude and subjective method for diagnosis of pregnancy especially in its early stages. If that was the only method for diagnosis it should be possible that many nonpregnant women were recruited in this study especially if the medical service was free and limited to the pregnant women. In rural African communities non-pregnant women can come to the free medical service and claim that they are in their early pregnancy. It would have been of much value if at least the pregnancy was confirmed or excluded by one of the objective methods; the presence of human chorionic gonadotrophin in the urine or even better by ultrasography which is available in almost every corner globally. (excerpt)