Malaria in pregnancy is an obstetric,
social and medical problem requiring multidisciplinary and multidimensional solution.
Pregnant women constitute the main adult
risk group for malaria and 80% of
death due to malaria in Africa occur in pregnant women and children below
5 years of age (Ali A, et al,
2007).
Pregnancy increases the risk of
malaria parasitaemia (Nnaji G.A et al, 2007).
There is equally an increased risk of placental blood flow and the available oxygen to the fetus.
Consequently, this may manifest as low birth weight, intra uterine growth retardation,
intra uterine death, premature labour, still birth, prenatal asphyxia and neonatal
asphyxia (Sullivan, et al, 1999)
The impact of maternal malaria infection on prenatal
and infant mortality is very difficult
to assess. However , few studies
have provided insight into the problem.
Sleketee
et al estimated that 3-8%
of infant deaths was
caused by pregnancy associated malaria approximately 75,000-200,000 infants
every year (Steketee RW, et al ,
2001) . The strongest risk factor of umbilical cord parasitaemia was maternal blood parasitaemia at delivery.
(Villamor E, et al, 2005)
provides evidence for policy
formulation and issues
in the case of primigravidae
and secundigravidae who have
shown to have increased susceptibility
to malaria parasitaemia (Nnaji G A, et al , 2006).
Malaria parasites are the
protozoa parasite belonging to
subclass coccidioe, genus plasmodium (Ochei 2004) . It is
a major public health problem and
causes much suffering and prepremature death in poorer areas of tropical Africa Asia and latin America (Cheesbrough 2005).
Since
2000, the World Health
Organization (WHO) has recommended a package of intervention
to prevent malaria infection during
pregnancy and it sequelae, these include the promotion at insecticide treated bed nets (ITMS) Intermitted Preventive Treatment (IPT )
and effective case management of malaria illness with
respect Intermittent Preventive
Treatment (IPT).
WHO recommended that pregnant women in
malaria endemic areas should receive at
least two dose of sulfadoxine pyrimethamin in the
second and third trimesters of pregnancy (Shulman, et al, 1999) . Many countries have
adopted the WHO recommendations but implementation has often been hampered
by constrain within health service delivery system or individual perception of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT). these factors includes
health services delivery system
burdened by poor drug supply, poor health worker practices and low
attendance or late presentation
to antenatal clinics
STATEMENT
OF PROBLEMS
Malaria has continued to remain a major disease in tropical
homogeneous black African population especially in, pregnant women and children (Fischer 2006)
malaria infection is associated
with great morbidity and
mortality in pregnant women and children. from my observation many pregnant women in our environment
have reported the incidence of malaria
at various times which may translate to increase in cord
blood parasiteamia in their babies as well as congenital malaria in the new borns
This
study therefore evaluates the prevalence of malaria in cord blood of new born babies delivered at the labour ward of mile
4 hospital Abakaliki
AIMS
AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The aims of this study is to investigate the
prevalence of malaria parasite in
cord blood. Evaluation of the prevalence of malaria
parasite in cord blood will afford the opportunity
of assessing the
burden of malaria .
This
study also aims
·
To
identify other factors that influence
the level of cord blood malaria
parasitaemia
·
To
identify association between malaria
parasitaemia in cord and maternal blood.
To identify any association between malaria
parasitaemia in the umbilical cord blood
and the birth weight of the infant at delivery.