clove and Birth-Weight

Children exposed to biomass used in households are at risk to develop diseases or respiratory symptoms. In Madagascar more than 95% of households use it daily. The main objective is to study the impact of chronic exposure to biomass on respiratory health of children under 15 years old in Madagascar.. Descriptive cross-sectional study conducted with questionnaires among urban and rural population of Antananarivo and Mahajanga provinces between 2016 and 2017. Variables were collected: number of hours spent in kitchen per day, respiratory symptoms and spirometric data. Categorized symptoms score and exposure index expressing chronic exposure to biomass were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression models.. Of the 661 children included in the analysis, 27.7% had 1 respiratory symptom and 29.3% had 2 or more respiratory symptoms. Moderate exposure index (aOR=1.57; CI95%=[1.30-1.89]; p<0.001) and high exposure index (aOR=1.76; CI95%=[1.39-2.24]; p<0.001) were significantly associated with 1 respiratory symptom, adjusted with provinces, household members and visitors smoking, perceived discomfort related to air pollution and birthweight. Exposure index was not significantly associated with an increased risk of having 2 or more respiratory symptoms (p = 0.754).. Respiratory symptoms were associated with exposure to biomass, living in coastal areas, birthweight, tobacco and perceived discomfort related to air pollution. Recommendations and actions must be implemented in order to improve respiratory health related to biomass among children.

Topics: Adolescent; Air Pollution, Indoor; Biomass; Birth Weight; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Madagascar; Nicotiana; Smoke

Malaria transmission in Madagascar is highly variable from one region to the next, and the consequences of the disease on pregnant women and their foetuses are not fully documented. In midwestern Madagascar, the high-transmission lowlands in the west of the country meet the central plateaux, where malaria is unstable because of the high altitude and annual indoor spraying of DDT since 1993. We studied five of the region's main maternity clinics. We began by interviewing sample groups of women of childbearing age living within the vicinity of each clinic. This enabled us to determine the extent to which they had accessed and made use of available maternal health services during pregnancy and delivery, and, hence, to estimate the feasibility of boosting the prophylaxis. We then spent a whole year (from June 1996 to May 1997) observing deliveries at the five clinics in order to gauge the prevalence of placental infection and its consequences on birthweight in various transmission situations. Although only between 2 and 15% of the women said that they had taken prophylaxis during their previous pregnancy, the vast majority had benefited from preventive care: 97% had attended an antenatal visit on at least one occasion and 84% had had the assistance of medical or paramedical staff during delivery, even when their homes were situated relatively far away from the clinic (76%). In total, we observed 1637 deliveries with a mean placental malaria prevalence rate of 8.1%. Individual prevalence rates, however, were found to differ significantly between the maternity clinics situated in the east (minimum 2.1%) and west (maximum 26.2%) of the region. There were also marked variations in line with the seasonal fluctuations in entomological transmission. On the whole, a greater percentage of low birthweights (LBWs) was recorded at the lowland clinics than at the highland ones (17.1% vs. 9.7%), possibly because of the higher malaria infection rate in low altitude areas. On the other hand, the relative risk of LBW linked to placental infection was far greater in the highlands [4.9 (3.3-7.3)] than in the lowlands [1.9 (1.2-3.0)]. Although the rate of placental malaria among women inhabiting the country's central plateaux may be low, it means that transmission--and, hence, the risk of LBW because of placental infection--still persists in spite of the indoor DDT spraying programme. For maximum efficacy, we recommend a combination of vector control (extended to lower altitude

Topics: Altitude; Birth Weight; Comorbidity; Environmental Monitoring; Epidemiological Monitoring; Female; Geography; Humans; Infant, Low Birth Weight; Infant, Newborn; Interviews as Topic; Logistic Models; Madagascar; Malaria; Placenta; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic; Prenatal Care; Prevalence; Preventive Medicine; Risk

Determine the sensitivity of the pathology examination of the placenta as a screening examination for malaria and the consequences of this infection on prematurity and birth-weight.. Eighty placentas were examined at the Mjunga, Madagascar dispensary at the beginning of the rainy season. The aspect of the placenta was compared with a malaria index and to malaria disease state as a function of parity and anti-malarial prophylaxis used by the mother as well as with the state of the infant.. Among the placentas examined, 41.3% were considered normal and abnormal or clearly pathological in 58.7%. Estimating the gestational age on the basis of the histological examination of the amniotic cells was in agreement with the gestational age calculated from the last cycle in 53 cases and in disagreement in 8 cases. The percentage of cases of malaria discovered by the pathology examination (20%) was greater than that after thick swab screening (10%). 75% of the mothers has Plasmodium falciparum infection at the time of delivery and 13.8% of the mothers with negative thick drops had malaria lesions of the placenta. The parity of infected mothers was similar to non infected mothers. All the premature newborns had pathological placentas included 12.5% with malarial lesions. 90% of the hypertrophic newborns had pathological placentas included 50% with malarial lesions. No case of congenital malaria was observed.. Pathology examination of the placenta is as sensitive as blood drop tests for screening for malaria. The histological examination of amniotic cells can give a good estimation of gestational age in developing countries.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Amnion; Birth Weight; Developing Countries; Female; Gestational Age; Humans; Hypertrophy; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature; Infant, Premature, Diseases; Madagascar; Malaria; Malaria, Falciparum; Mass Screening; Parity; Placenta; Placenta Diseases; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic; Sensitivity and Specificity; Social Class