Prevalence and Types of Anaemia in Malaria Infected Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

Anaemia is a very common condition during pregnancy. This is particularly so in developing countries where the level of intake of iron rich foods is low; malaria and other intestinal parasites are common. This study was conducted to determine the proportion of pregnant women with malaria parasitaemia and anaemia at booking and also to classify the anaemia using morphologic criteria. A total of 414 pregnant women attending University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Nigeria antenatal clinic were used as the subjects while 250 age-matched non-pregnant women served as controls. Full blood count was carried out using full automatic cell counter while malaria parasite was determined by thick film method. The prevalence of anemia (61.1%) and malaria parasite (70.1%) was significantly (p <0.05) higher among the pregnant women than in the non-pregnant women (38.3% and 60.8%). Anaemia and malaria parasite was found to be higher in the primigravidae than in the multigravidae. Primigravidae were more susceptible to the parasite especially Plasmodium falciparum with mean parasite density of 2112.50 ± 420.90 (parasite/µl) than the multigravidae with parasite density of 446.70 ± 296.90 (parasite/µl). Malaria parasite density increased significantly (p>0.05) with gestational age but anaemia was found to be slightly higher in the second trimester (65.8%) than in the first trimester (40.8%) and third trimester (64.5%). Normocytic normochromic anemia was found to be the most prevalent form of anemia in both pregnant and non-pregnant women while microcytic hypochromic anemia and macrocytic normochromic anemia were found to be significantly (p<0.05) higher among the pregnant women than in the non-pregnant women There was a negative correlation between haemglobin and malaria parsite density in both pregnant and non-pregnant women (r = -0.1964,-0.5041). The results showed that malaria infection caused by P. falciparum had serious effect on pregnant women living in the study area.  Malaria in pregnancy should  be recognized as a global priority in health care services and early malaria prophylaxis among pregnant women in this environment should be encouraged.

Keywords: Malaria, Pregnancy, Anaemia