Cross-sectional interview study of fertility, pregnancy, and urogenital schistosomiasis in coastal Kenya: Documented treatment in childhood is associated with reduced odds of subfertility among adult women.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous research has documented an increased risk of subfertility in areas of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as an ecological association between urogenital schistosomiasis prevalence and decreased fertility. This pilot project examined reproductive patterns and the potential effects of childhood urogenital Schistosoma haematobium infection and individual treatment experience on adult subfertility among women who were long-term residents in an S. haematobium-endemic region of coastal Kenya.

Methodology/principal findings

We analyzed findings from 162 in-depth interviews with women of childbearing age in a rural, coastal community, linking them, if possible, to their individual treatment records from previous multi-year longitudinal studies of parasitic infections. R

SUBMITTER: Miller-Fellows SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5720807 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature