Attractiveness of pregnant women to the malaria vector, Anopheles arabiensis, in Sudan.

The attractiveness of pregnant women for mosquitoes was investigated in a peri-urban site in New Halfa, eastern Sudan, in September-October 2003. For 20 nights, the mosquitoes feeding on nine pregnant and nine non-pregnant women sleeping under untreated bednets were collected. The women slept outdoors, in the yards of nine houses, each yard holding one pregnant and one non-pregnant woman. In general, each pregnant woman attracted significantly more Anopheles arabiensis (the main vector of Plasmodium falciparum in the area) than each non-pregnant women, with mean biting rates of 0.94 and 0.49 bites/woman-night, respectively (P = 0.005). In contrast, the two groups of women attracted similar numbers of the other mosquito species collected, which were all culicine. Impregnated bednets need to be used in the study area, at least by the pregnant women (who appear to be at particularly high risk of acquiring malaria).