Modifications of hemato-biological parameters in pregnant women in a migrating population in northern Cameroon: prevalence of anemia, iron and folates deficiencies.

The wholesale displacement of a population can have nutritional consequences for the migrants. With this in mind, the prevalences of anemia and of iron and folic acid deficiencies were studied in a group of 90 pregnant women living in northeast Benoue, an area situated in northern Cameroon where a development project was initiated in 1973. This project aimed at moving a population from the extreme northern highlands to the fertile valley of the Benoue. The following hemato-biological parameters were measured: hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, plasma iron, transferrin saturation, serum concentrations of folates, prealbumin, transferrin, protides and their fractions. The investigation showed that anemia, as well as iron and folic acid deficiencies, were rare when using World Health Organization criteria. The anemia prevalence, judged on a hemoglobin level of less than 11 g per 100 ml, is 8%, iron deficiency prevalence is 10% (plasma iron level below 50 micrograms per 100 ml), and folic acid deficiency prevalence is 3% (serum folic acid level below 3 ng per ml). However, 40% of the pregnant women had a level of transferrin saturation below 15%. In non deficient subjects, we observed a decrease between the first and second trimesters of pregnancy in hemato-biological parameters linked to anemia or to nutritional status (hemoglobin, hematocrit, plasma iron, transferrin saturation, prealbumin). The nutritional conditions in the area appeared sufficient to prevent deficiencies which are frequently observed in pregnant women in Africa.