Anaemia, folate and vitamin B 12 deficiency among pregnant women in an area of unstable malaria transmission in eastern Sudan

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Author's personal copy Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2009) 103, 493—496

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Anaemia, folate and vitamin B12 deficiency among pregnant women in an area of unstable malaria transmission in eastern Sudan Ishraga I. Abdelrahim a, Gamal K. Adam b, Ahmed A. Mohmmed c, Magdi M. Salih d, Naji I. Ali e, Mustafa I. Elbashier a, Ishag Adam a,∗ a

Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan Faculty of Medicine, Gadarif University, Gadarif, Sudan c Faculty of Medicine, Ribat University, Khartoum, Sudan d Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan e Sudan Atomic Energy Commission, Khartoum, Sudan b

Received 20 July 2008; received in revised form 10 October 2008; accepted 10 October 2008 Available online 21 November 2008

KEYWORDS Anaemia; Pregnancy; Ferritin; Folate; Vitamin B12 ; Sudan

Summary A cross-sectional study was carried out between October 2007 and January 2008 to investigate the prevalence and types of anaemia among pregnant women of eastern Sudan. Socio-demographic and obstetrical data were collected using a questionnaire. Haemoglobin (Hb), serum ferritin, serum folate and vitamin B12 were assessed using standard laboratory methods. Two hundred and seventy-nine pregnant Sudanese women were recruited. Anaemia (Hb