Prevalence and Severity of Malaria Infection among Pregnant Women across the Three (3) Tiers of Healthcare Facilities in Kano Metropolis, Kano State, Northern Nigeria

Abstract

High prevalence of malaria infection has been recorded in different parts of Nigeria including Kano State. In this study, three levels of healthcare facilities were represented, in order to assess the general prevalence of malaria infection among pregnant women across the three tiers, in Kano metropolis. A hospital-based cross-sectional prevalence study was carried out to establish the prevalence and severity of peripheral malaria parasitaemia in pregnant women. A total of six hundred participants were selected from the three categories of healthcare facilities. Thick and thin blood smears were prepared by Giemsa staining, for the presence, identification and quantification of the parasites. The overall prevalence of malaria infection among pregnant women in Kano metropolis was 59.7% and most cases (70.7%) had scanty infection (+). The most prevalent species was P. falciparum, accounting for 98.9% of positive cases. All the participants from the primary healthcare facility were parasitaemic and accounted for 55.9% of all the positive cases, whereas the secondary and tertiary accounted for only 17.3% and 26.8% respectively. There was a high (59.7%) prevalence of malaria infection among pregnant women in Kano metropolis. There should be more efforts towards controlling malaria infection among pregnant women in Kano metropolis. Also, this epidemiological study needs to be repeated at regular intervals for monitoring purpose.