Seroprevalence of Malaria Parasite Infection among Pregnant Women Attending Two Tertiary Health Facilities in Akure Ondo State Nigeria

Abstract

The sequel outcomes and increased rates of maternal morbidity are partly consequences of the prevalence of malaria infections in pregnant women. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of malaria parasite infection in pregnant mothers in State Specialist Hospital Akure. A total of 616 pregnant women aged 15-46 years who attended the major referral health facility for routine ante-natal purposes between February and April, 2012 were included in this exercise. Giemsa stained thick blood smears of the patients were examined for the presence of asexual stages of Plasmodium parasite. The Packed Celled Volume (PCV), genotype and blood group of the mothers were also determined using the haematocrit, electrophoresis and agglutination methods respectively. Descriptive statistics was used to determine the percentage of infections. Chi-square analysis was used to compare maternal data. Statistical comparison of malaria parasite and PCV was significant p 0.05) indicating that genotype of mothers in this present study have no influence in the distribution and prevalence of malaria. Out of 616 pregnant women examined, 597 (96.92%) had malaria parasite infection while 19 (3.08%) were not infected. The total prevalence rate 96.92% observed in the sampled population examined was very high though majority were infected at low parasitaemia is indicative of the endemicity of the disease in Akure metropolis. The difference in the mean PCV of malaria infected and non-infected mothers coupled with the high rate of malaria infection suggested the involvement of malaria in maternal anaemia.