Fragmento

This year, people across Africa and the world will celebrate Africa Malaria Day on and around 25 April. The theme for this year's Africa Malaria Day is A Malaria-Free Future and the slogan is Children for Children to Roll Back Malaria. In sub Saharan Africa almost a quarter of deaths in children under five years is estimated to be caused by malaria, so it is right and fitting that the focus of this year’s Africa Malaria Day is children. We should not forget though that malaria is a problem for children even before they are born. Although several studies have found that there was no direct association between maternal malaria and infant death, if the mother has a malaria-infected placenta her baby is twice as likely to be born with a low birth weight, and infant mortality in these babies is estimated to be three times higher than in normal weight babies. Malaria infection during pregnancy also puts significant risk on the mother, who is 1.5 – 2.5 times more likely to develop moderate to severe anaemia, increasing the chances of an adverse delivery outcome for both herself and her child. A study in Tanzania showed that infant mortality was more than three times higher in babies born to anaemic mothers than in those born to non-anaemic mothers.

Palabras clave:

2006-04-25   |   1,132 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 2 Núm.1. Enero-Marzo 2004 Pags. 20-21 Acta Cient Estud 2004; 2(1)