Abstract
The study was designed to determine the true prevalence of congenital, cord, and placental malaria in General Hospital Minna, North Central Nigeria. Peripheral blood smears of near-term pregnant women, as well as the placental, cord, and peripheral blood smears of their newborn babies, were examined for malaria parasites, using the Giemsa staining technique. Out of 152 pregnant women screened, 21 (13.82%) of them were infected with malaria parasites. Of the 152 new born babies, 4 (2.63%) showed positive peripheral parasitaemia. Placental parasitaemia was 7/152 (4.61%), while cord blood parasitaemia was 9/152 (5.92%). There were strong associations between peripheral and cord malaria parasitaemia and congenital malaria (P < 0.05). Plasmodium falciparum occurred in all, and none had mixed infection. The average birth weights of the babies delivered of nonmalarious pregnant women were higher than those delivered by malarious pregnant women, though not significant (P > 0.05). Malaria parasitaemia occurred more frequently in primigravidae than multigravidae.
Highlights
Congenital malaria was first described in 1876 [1]
The prevalence of malaria in pregnant women in this study was 14%; though consistent with the reported Nigerian situation, the relatively low percentage could be due to the fact that the study was carried out during the dry season, a period of low mosquito density and, perhaps, low level malaria transmission rates
This observation supports the position that in areas of malaria endemicity, pregnancy is associated with increased susceptibility to malaria, arising from pregnancy-induced altered immunity [6], Immunosuppression from raised serum cortisol, loss of cell-mediated immunity, effects of a new organ, the placenta, and loss of type-1 cytokine responses [4]
Summary
Congenital malaria was first described in 1876 [1]. It can be acquired by transmission of parasites from mother to child during pregnancy or perinatally during labour [2].Congenital malaria has been documented for many years, but it was previously thought to be uncommon especially in indigenous populations; more recent studies, suggest that incidence has increased, and values between 0.30 to 33.00% have been observed from both endemic and nonendemic areas [3].Malaria and pregnancy are generally believed to be mutually aggravating conditions. Congenital malaria was first described in 1876 [1]. It can be acquired by transmission of parasites from mother to child during pregnancy or perinatally during labour [2]. Congenital malaria has been documented for many years, but it was previously thought to be uncommon especially in indigenous populations; more recent studies, suggest that incidence has increased, and values between 0.30 to 33.00% have been observed from both endemic and nonendemic areas [3]. Malaria and pregnancy are generally believed to be mutually aggravating conditions. The pathological changes due to malaria and the physiological changes associated with pregnancy have a synergistic effect on the course of each other [4]. Pregnancy exacerbates malaria through a nonspecific hormone-dependant depression of the immune system; protective antiplasmodial activity is suppressed at pregnancy [5]
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