Malaria Exposure and Pregnancy Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Audrey Dorélien, University of Minnesota
Kathryn Grace, University of Minnesota
Frank Davenport, University of California, Santa Barbara

Despite the high burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa, research has been hindered by a lack of detailed incidence data with high spatial and temporal resolution. To study the impact of in utero exposure to malaria on pregnancy outcomes, we circumvent this problem by using detailed reproductive histories from the Demographic and Health Surveys and combine that data with an index of exposure to malaria based on climatic variables. We use Linear Probability Models to estimate the impact of exposure to malarious conditions during different months of gestation on birth weight. Preliminary results show that the relationship between exposure to malarious conditions and birthweight depends on context (malaria endemicity and immunity). This paper provides a framework for predicting potential future impacts of climate change on malarial outbreaks and pregnancy outcomes and can be used to predict locations and months with high risk of malaria transmission.