Prevalence of Malaria in Pregnant Women in Lagos, South-West Nigeria

Prevalence rates reported for malaria in pregnancy in Nigeria vary considerably. The accuracy of results of malaria diagnosis is dependent on training, experience, and motivation of the microscopist as well as the laboratory facility available. Results of training programmes on malaria microscopy ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Korean journal of parasitology 2009-06, Vol.47 (2), p.179-183
Main Authors: Agomo, Chimere O. (College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Nigeria), Oyibo, Wellington A. (College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Nigeria), E-mail: wellao@yahoo.com, Anorlu, Rose I. (College of Medicine of the University of Lagos, Nigeria), Agomo, Philip U. (Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria)
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Blood - parasitology
Brief Communication
DIAGNOSIS
DIAGNOSTIC
DIAGNOSTICO
Female
GESTACION
GESTATION
Humans
MALARIA
Malaria - diagnosis
Malaria - epidemiology
Microscopy
NIGERIA
Nigeria - epidemiology
PREGNANCY
Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - epidemiology
Pregnant Women
Prevalence
prevalence rate
Young Adult
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Summary:Prevalence rates reported for malaria in pregnancy in Nigeria vary considerably. The accuracy of results of malaria diagnosis is dependent on training, experience, and motivation of the microscopist as well as the laboratory facility available. Results of training programmes on malaria microscopy have shown low levels of sensitivity and specificity of those involved in malaria diagnosis routinely and for research. This study was done to ascertain the true prevalence of malaria in pregnancy in Lagos, South-West Nigeria. A total of 1,084 pregnant women were recruited into this study. Blood smears stained with Giemsa were used for malaria diagnosis by light microscopy. Malaria infection during pregnancy presents mostly as asymptomatic infection. The prevalence of malaria in this population was 7.7% (95% confidence interval; 6.2-9.4%). Factors identified to increase the risk of malaria infection include young maternal age (less than 20 years), and gravidity (primigravida). In conclusion, this study exposes the over-diagnosis of malaria in pregnancy and the need for training and retraining of laboratory staffs as well as establishing the malaria diagnosis quality assurance programme to ensure the accuracy of malaria microscopy results at all levels.
ISSN:0023-4001
1738-0006
DOI:10.3347/kjp.2009.47.2.179