Malaria parasitemia amongst pregnant women attending selected government and private healthcare facilities in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

A cross-sectional study to determine malaria parasitemia amongst 300 randomly selected pregnant women attending  government and private healthcare facilities in Rivers State was carried out. Blood samples were obtained through venous  procedure and the presence or absence of Plasmodium was determined  microscopically through thin and thick blood films. Socio-demographic information was obtained from questionnaires administered to the pregnant women enrolled. A total of 81 (27.0%) pregnant women were infected with P. falciparum. In private healthcare centres, 39 (26.0%) pregnant women were infected, while 42 (28.0%) were found infected in government hospital (x²= 0.101, df= 1, p>0.05). In the private healthcare centres, malaria prevalence among pregnant women in their first, second and third trimesters varied between 24.0-30.0% while in the government healthcare centre, malaria prevalence varied between 22.0%-30.0% (x²= 0.502, df= 2, p>0.05). In the private healthcare  centres, malaria prevalence among  primigravidae, secundigravidae and multigravidae varied between 22.0-28.0% while in the government healthcare centres, malaria prevalence varied between  23.0-32.0% (x² = 0.084, df= 2, p>0.05). In the private  healthcare centres, malaria prevalence among age groups 11-20, 21-30 and 31-40 varied between 17.0-29.0% while in the government healthcare centre, malaria prevalence varied between 26.0-29.0% (x²= 1.408, df= 2, p>0.05). There was no overall significant difference in malaria prevalence between the government and private healthcare facilities. Malaria is a public health burden especially amongst pregnant women, therefore adequate health education and proper control measures against malaria should be encouraged.

Keywords: Prevalence; pregnancy; plasmodium; gestation; parity; age.