Prevalence of Malaria in Pregnant Women Attending Ante Natal Care at University of Port Harcourt Primary Health Care Centre Aluu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

Venule blood samples were randomly collected from eighty pregnant women receiving ante natal care in the University of Port Harcourt Primary Health Care Centre after obtaining ethical clearance. These blood samples were put in EDTA properly designated bottles and taken to the Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology for examination. The standard thick and thin smears were used to examine the blood specimens. Overall prevalence showed that 72.5% of the pregnant women were infected with malaria. Specific Plasmodium prevalence amongst the infected showed that 63.5% were infected with P. falciparum; 18.9% for P. vivax; 15.5% for P.malariae and 1.7% for P.ovale. There was no statistically significant (P>0.05) increase in the prevalence of Plasmodium species between the primigravidea (58.6%) and the multigravidae (41.3%). The disparity in parasitemia was attributed to pregnancy induced delayed antibody expression in the primigravidae. The study emphasized the significance of health education in malaria control especially during pregnancy.