Factors Associated with Malaria Preventive Measures among Pregnant Women in Guinea.

Background: Malaria control interventions have been scaled up, particularly those in pregnant women in Guinea. Despite that, coverage of key malaria preventive measure (MPM) indicators remains low. Therefore, it is vital to understand the reasons behind that, especially for the low coverage of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLIN). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in nine district hospitals in Guinea. Pregnant women received for delivery were interviewed to collect sociodemographic and obstetrical parameters. Associated factors with MPMs were investigated through univariate analysis and classification and regression tree (CART). Results: A total of 2248 parturients participated in this study. Among pregnant women using mosquito nets (63.5% (61.4%, 65.5%)), only 41.2% (39.1%, 43.3%) had used it regularly during the last two weeks preceding delivery. Similarly, most pregnant women (57.9% (55.8%, 59.9%)) had received less than three doses of SP, and only a few pregnant women (23.9% (22.1%, 25.7%)) have benefited from full MPMs. Parturient's age, marital status, time spent in residence, place of residence, level of education, distance from home to the health centre, health conditions, occupation, head of the household's occupation, the presence of garbage and stagnant water in the neighbourhood, source of running water, and the number of pregnancies were significantly statistically associated with MPMs in pregnant women. However, the number of antenatal care visits (ANC), means of transportation used by the pregnant woman to accomplish ANCs, and stagnant water in the neighbourhood were the three preponderant factors. Conclusion: The low coverage of SP and LLINs among pregnant women requires revitalising some strategies, especially improving ANC coverage and more efforts to reduce inequalities in access to those services due to sociodemographic status. Education on the benefits of these MPMs should also be emphasised.

Aniline in vegetable and fruit samples from the Canadian total diet study.

An isotope dilution method based on solvent extraction followed by GC-MS analysis was developed and used to determine aniline in vegetable and fruit samples collected from the Canadian total diet study. Aniline was not detected in any of the 23 vegetable samples from the 2005 total diet study at a method detection limit of 0.01 mg kg(-1). Among the 16 fruit samples, it was detected only in apple samples, with an average concentration of 0.278 mg kg(-1). Aniline was not detected in apple samples collected in the 2002, 2003, 2006 or 2007 total diet studies, but it was detected in the apple samples collected from the 2001 and 2004 studies, at concentrations of 0.085 and 0.468 mg kg(-1), respectively. The average aniline concentration for the 2001, 2004 and 2005 apple samples was 0.277 mg kg(-1). Good repeatability of the method was observed with replicate analysis of apple samples, with relative standard deviations (RSD) ranging 3.8-21% and an average of 11%.