Investigation on birth weight outcomes in schistosomiasis and praziquantel research: a correspondence.

Infection with Schistosoma sp. during pregnancy can cause low birth weight of the newborn. To allow a better differentiation between newborns with low birth weight and those with normal weight, the terms of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), small for gestational age (SGA) or fetal growth restriction (FGR) should be used. FGR describes the relationship between birth weight and gestational age and is defined as the incapability of a fetus to achieve expected growth with birth weight below the 10th percentile for gestational age. Additional investigations of the proportion of newborns with FGR should obtain more certainty about the effect of praziquantel and schistosomiasis on fetal growth.