International Journal of Medical and Health Research

Authors
Faruku N, Magaji UF, Bunza NM, Bello M

Abstract
Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among pregnant women and infants in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite intervention by government and international agencies to tackle malaria among pregnant women in Nigeria, the infection remains endemic due to poor and ineffective intervention strategies. This study was aimed at determining malaria parasitaemia in relation parity and among women attending ante-natal clinic, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto. One hundred and twenty six (126) apparently healthy pregnant women who willingly consent to participate in the study were recruited and screened for malaria parasitaemia. A high prevalence of 83.3% was observed among the studied population, with women inprimigravidae state having higher prevalence (90.91%) than those at multigravidae state (77.47%). Women in 2^nd trimester recorded the highest prevalence (94.74%)followed by those in 1^st trimester (84.62%), then 3^rd trimester (71.43%) with Plasmodium falciparum as the most frequent cause of the infection. In relation to age, younger women (between 15 – 35 years) had a high prevalence of malaria parasitaemia (≥83.33%), while those above 35years had lower prevalence or no malaria infection. This study suggest that there is high prevalence of malaria among pregnant women in Sokoto, therefore rigorous sensitization and prophylaxis need to be undertaken to reduce the malaria morbidity and mortality during pregnancy.