The objective of this study is to investigate the epidemiology of schistosomiasis and anaemia among pregnant and non-pregnant women in Burkina Faso and explore the implications for the national schistosomiasis control programme and future studies.~Specific objectives are:~to determine the prevalence and intensity of schistosome infection in pregnant women attending for antenatal care and in non-pregnant women of reproductive age in an area which is hyperendemic for S.haematobium infection and in which there is little or no S.mansoni infection~to determine the prevalence and intensity of schistosome infection in pregnant women attending for antenatal care and in non-pregnant women of reproductive age in an area in which S.mansoni infection is common~to determine Haemoglobin concentration in pregnant women attending for antenatal care and in non-pregnant women of reproductive age in the regions described above~to investigate the association between infection and haemoglobin concentration in pregnant and non-pregnant women~to determine the prevalence of other parasitic infections in pregnant women and non-pregnant women including hookworms, ascaris, trichuris and malaria~to demonstrate the research team's ability to follow-up pregnant women recruited at antenatal care clinics onto the postpartum period
Cross-sectional study of prevalence and intensity of schistosome infection in pregnant women, follow-up into postpartum, and the association of schistosome infection with haemoglobin concentration, compared to a group of non-pregnant women.