Intestinal infections and anaemia among pregnant women in Ghana

Abstract

There was an important connection stuck between hookworm infection and low iron stores. The study concluded that hookworm infection is a strong predictor of iron status. These findings buttress the need to make available anthelminthic therapy to infected women before conception as a public health strategy in reducing the incidence of hookworm infection, and also to make available nutritional and iron supplements to successfully control anaemia in pregnancy. Intestinal helminths are among the most common and widespread of human infections, contributing to poor nutritional status, anaemia and impaired growth. Anaemia and iron deficiency in pregnancy is a major public health issues in developing countries, but their causes are not always known. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and severity of anaemia and iron deficiency and their association with helminths, among pregnant women in Ghana.