CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 178Malaria Research and ControlGlobal Maternal and Child HealthMaternal and Neonatal Healthcare

Effects of Malaria during Pregnancy on Infant Mortality in an Area of Low Malaria Transmission

Luxemburger, C.·2001·American Journal of Epidemiology
DOI 10.1093/aje/154.5.459
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Malaria during pregnancy reduces birth weight, and low birth weight is a major determinant of infant mortality. The authors estimated the impact of malaria during pregnancy on infant mortality in a Karen population living in Thailand. Between 1993 and 1996, a cohort of 1,495 mothers and their infants was followed weekly from admission of the mother to antenatal clinics until the first birthday of the infant. Both falciparum malaria and vivax malaria during pregnancy were associated with low birth weight but did not shorten gestation. Febrile illness in the week before delivery was associated with premature birth. Preterm and full-term low birth weight and fever in the week before delivery were associated with neonatal mortality. Maternal fevers close to term were also associated with the deaths of infants aged between 1 and 3 months, whereas no risk factors could be identified for deaths that occurred later in infancy. Thus, malaria during pregnancy increased neonatal mortality by lowering birth weight, whereas fever in the week before birth had a further independent effect in addition to inducing premature birth. The prevention of malaria in pregnancy and, thus, of malaria-attributable low birth weight should increase the survival of young babies.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/aje/154.5.459

Cites

25 of 25 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • ANC coverage is high with more than 90% of pregnant women living in Mae La camp attending at least once, while more than 75% of women in Mae La camp give birth in the SMRU birth centre with SBAs.

    “Antenatal care (ANC) coverage is high with more than 90% of pregnant women living in Mae La camp attending at least once [17], while more than 75% of women in Mae La camp give birth in the SMRU birth centre with SBAs [18].”

    From Quality of intrapartum care by skilled birth attendants in a refugee clinic on the Thai-Myanmar border: a survey using WHO Safe Motherhood Needs Assessment (2015) · cites this paper as [17]

    The Study area section reports that 90% of pregnant women were registered with antenatal clinics across five refugee camps, supporting high ANC coverage. It does not establish more than 90% attendance specifically in Mae La camp. The birth-centre claim is attached to a different citation [18], so it is not assessed against this paper. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Severe anaemia is less common in unstable transmission settings.

    “Nevertheless, severe anaemia is less common in these settings.39,41”

    From Malaria in pregnancy. (2013) · cites this paper as [39]

    The Maternal malaria and anemia section reports that only 1% of women in this low-transmission cohort were severely anemic. The Discussion contrasts this cohort with earlier studies in which women were severely anemic, but the paper does not establish that severe anemia is generally less common across unstable-transmission settings. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In unstable transmission settings, malaria can cause maternal anaemia, more in primigravidae than multigravidae and for falciparum infections more than for vivax infections.

    “Where malaria transmission is unstable, malaria can cause maternal anaemia,18,35,39–40 more in primigravidae than in multigravidae and for falciparum infections more than for vivax infections.18,35”

    From Malaria in pregnancy. (2013) · cites this paper as [39]

    The “Maternal malaria and anemia” section reports that malaria during pregnancy was the strongest independent risk factor for maternal anemia in this low-transmission setting. It says falciparum malaria was more common in primigravidae, but does not show that malaria caused more anemia in primigravidae than multigravidae or that falciparum caused more anemia than vivax. It instead identifies multigravidity as an independent risk factor for anemia. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Malaria infection during pregnancy increases the risk of infant's death and perinatal mortality by causing low birth weight.

    “It also increases the risk of infant’s death and perinatal mortality, by causing LBW.39,53,55”

    From Malaria in pregnancy. (2013) · cites this paper as [39]

    The Abstract and Infant mortality section report that malaria during pregnancy increased neonatal mortality indirectly by lowering birth weight, supporting the claim about infant deaths in the first months of life. The study followed liveborn infants and does not establish an increase in perinatal mortality as a whole, which includes stillbirths. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Gestational age estimation at SMRU has been based on ultrasound since 2001.

    “Accurate estimation of gestational age has always been an integral part of the antenatal care and since 2001 dating is based on ultrasound (37–40).”

    From Born too soon in a resource-limited setting: A 10-year mixed methods review of a special care baby unit for refugees and migrants on the Myanmar-Thailand border (2023) · cites this paper as [37]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Menendez C, Todd J, Alonso PL, et al. Malaria chemoprophy- laxis, infection of the placenta and birthweight in Gambian primigravidae. J Trop Med Hyg 1994;97:244-8.
  2. Wickramasuriya G. Clinical features of malaria in pregnancy. In: Malaria and ankylostomiasis in pregnant women. London, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 1937:5-90.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Luxemburger, C.
Affiliations
John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
Corresponding author
Luxemburger, C.
ORCID
Luxemburger, C.
Venue
American Journal of Epidemiology
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2001-09-01
Volume
154
Issue
5
Pages
459-465
ISSN
0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1093/aje/154.5.459
OpenAlex
W2166268823
Cited by
178
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 9
FWCI
6.20
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research (University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
  • Surrey Research Insight Open Access (The University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust
  • Mahidol University
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Malaria Research and Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
Keywords
malaria in pregnancy, infant mortality, low birth weight, neonatal mortality, falciparum malaria, vivax malaria, preterm birth, maternal fever, low malaria transmission, pregnancy cohort
MeSH terms
Anemia, Birth Weight, Female, Fetal Growth Retardation, Humans, Infant Mortality, Infant, Low Birth Weight, Infant, Newborn, Pregnancy, Risk Factors, Thailand, Cohort Studies, Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic, Chi-Square Distribution, Malaria, Falciparum, Malaria, Vivax

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review