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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 76(4), 2007, pp. 631-633
Copyright © 2007 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


SOUTHEAST ASIAN OVALOCYTOSIS AND PREGNANCY IN A MALARIA-ENDEMIC REGION OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

ANGELA O’DONNELL*, ANDREW RAIKO, JOHN B. CLEGG, DAVID J. WEATHERALL, AND STEPHEN J. ALLEN
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom; Papua New Guinea Institute Of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea

 

ABSTRACT

The band 3 deletion for southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) occurs commonly in southeast Asia and the western Pacific. Southeast Asian ovalocytosis is associated with protection against cerebral malaria in children and therefore could reduce sequestration of erythrocytes parasitized by Plasmodium falciparum in the brain microvasculature. Sequestration of parasitized erythrocytes in the placenta accounts for much of the pathology of malaria during pregnancy. Therefore, we investigated the effect of SAO on malaria during pregnancy in the malaria-hyperendemic north coastal region of Papua New Guinea. The frequency of SAO in 927 women attending hospital for delivery was 8.7% (95% confidence interval = 6.9–10.5). Markers of fertility, the frequency of miscarriages and stillbirths, maternal anemia, placental and peripheral malaria at delivery, and birth weight were similar in women with and without SAO. In summary, although we can not exclude an interaction between SAO and malaria during pregnancy, we found no evidence that it provided a clinical benefit in this population.

Received July 31, 2006. Accepted for publication December 24, 2006.

Acknowledgments: We thank all women who delivered in the "haus karim" of Madang Hospital and participated in this study. We also thank the nursing staff and Willie Depsone for help with recruitment and Dr. Ivo Mueller for helpful discussions.

Financial support: This study was supported by Wellcome Trust grant no. 035893.

* Address correspondence to Angela O’Donnell, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom. E-mail: aallengm{at}yahoo.co.uk

Authors’ addresses: Angela O’Donnell, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, United Kingdom, Telephone: 44-1792-513-046, Fax: 44-1792-513-054, E-mail: aallengm{at}yahoo.co.uk. Andrew Raiko, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, EHP 441, Papua New Guinea. John B. Clegg and David J. Weatherall, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DS, United Kingdom. Stephen J. Allen, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DS, United Kingdom and Papua New Guinea Institute Of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, EHP 441, Papua New Guinea.






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