The Prevalence of Malaria among Pregnant Women in Maradi, Niger Republic

Abstract

Astudy was conducted to determine the prevalence of malaria among pregnant women in Maradi, Niger Republic. Questionnaires were administered to a total of four hundred and eight (408) pregnant women to obtain information about their trimester group, gravid status, duration of the pregnancy, educational level and age group. Blood samples were collected from the interviewed subjects and analysed for the presence of Plasmodium infection using thin and thick smear techniques.Atotal of one hundred and forty-nine (149) samples were found to be infected, representing 36.52%. The distribution of the infection by trimester groups showed that, women in their first trimester had the highest  prevalence of 43.47%. The age-group distribution of the infection showed that, persons aged 10-19 had the highest prevalence of 45.58%, while the distribution of the infection by level of education showed that persons with non-formal education had the highest prevalence of 75.0%. All the infections were found to be due to Plasmodium falciparum. The survey found ignorance to be a contributing factor in the epidemiology of malaria in the area and suggested mass public enlightenment programme as a control measure.