PREVALENCE OF MALARIA PARASITE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN

INTRODUCTION
Malaria is a disease that is caused by a parasite, a living thing that lives and feeds on another living thing without helping its host in any way. The parasites that cause human malaria are tiny, single-celled creatures known as protozoa of the genus plasmodium. Four species are involves Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae, and Plasmodium ovale, of these, Plasmodium falciparum is the most commosn and the deadliest and the most virulent in Africa. Malaria parasites are spread to humans by the bite of an infection vector, the female anopheles mosquito. Such mosquitoes are found in almost all countries in the tropics (region around the equator) and subtropics (region just beyond the tropics) (Izenberg et al 2008).
Malaria disease is known to affect a high population of people. Women particularly pregnant women and children, aged 0.5 are among the worst hit by the mosquito borne ailment. Latest WHO estimated that there are 300 – 500 million cases of clinical malaria per year with 1.4 – 2.6 million deaths mainly among African children. Most of these deaths are attributed to infection with P. falciperium and occur among children and pregnant women in the developing world (WHO 2004).
Each year, 25 million African women become pregnant in malaria endemic area. Malaria infection during pregnancy is a major public health problem in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. It increase the risk of low birth weight (<2500mg), infant mortality and morbidity during the first year of the life by inducing intra-uterine growth retardation, pre-maturity and infant anemiae (Nosten et al 1994).
Malaria is known to impair growth in children, it causes weakness, mental apathy, abortion in pregnant women as well as maternal anemia. It slows down economic development (Adam, 2005), the presentation of malaria during pregnancy varies according to the pre-existing immunity of the malaria. Women living in low malaria transmission have little immunity to malaria which causes severe syndrome, such as cerebral malaria and preliminary edema. It is generally assumed that due to the acquisition of significant levels of anti-malaria immunity in areas of stable transmission, parasitemia pregnant women are rarely symptomatic and that severe disease or death from malaria is extremely unusual (Shulman, 2003).
In order to decrease the increase of morbidity and mortality particularly in pregnant women, control measures depends upon elimination of mosquito breeding places, personal protection against mosquitoes, suppressive drugs for exposed persons, and adequate treatment of cases and carriers (Jawetz et al 2004).