Department of Internal Medicine, Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital Sekondi-Takoradi, Sekondi, P.O. Box 229, Western Region, Ghana.
Acta Trop. 2012 Sep;123(3):244-8. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2012.05.014. Epub 2012 Jun 3.
The problem of malaria in adolescence has been surpassed by the immense burden of malaria in children, most especially less than 5. A substantial amount of work done on malaria in pregnancy in endemic regions has not properly considered the adolescence. The present study therefore aimed at evaluating the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and anaemia infection in adolescent pregnant girls in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, Ghana. The study was carried out at four hospitals in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of the western region of Ghana from January 2010 to October 2010. Structured questionnaires were administered to the consenting pregnant women during their antenatal care visits. Information on education, age, gravidae, occupation and socio-demographic characteristics were recorded. Venous bloods were screened for malaria using RAPID response antibody kit and Geimsa staining while haemoglobin estimations were done by cyanmethemoglobin method. The results revealed that adolescent pregnant girls were more likely to have malaria infection than the adult pregnant women (34.6% verses 21.3%, adjusted OR 1.65, 95% CI, 1.03-2.65, P=0.039). In addition, adolescent pregnant girls had higher odds of anaemia than their adult pregnant women equivalent (43.9% versus 33.2%; adjusted OR 1.63, 95% CI, 1.01-2.62, P=0.046). Taken together, these data suggest that adolescent pregnant girls were more likely to have malaria and anaemia compared to their adult pregnant counterpart. Results from this study shows that proactive adolescent friendly policies and control programmes for malaria and anaemia are needed in this region in order to protect this vulnerable group of pregnant women.
青春期疟疾问题已经被儿童疟疾这一巨大负担所超越，尤其是 5 岁以下的儿童。在疟疾流行地区，虽然已经开展了大量针对孕妇疟疾的工作，但并没有充分考虑到青春期少女这一群体。因此，本研究旨在评估加纳塞康迪-塔克拉迪大都市地区青春期孕妇中恶性疟原虫和贫血症的感染率。该研究于 2010 年 1 月至 10 月在加纳西部塞康迪-塔克拉迪大都市的四家医院进行。在孕妇进行产前检查期间，向同意参与的孕妇发放了结构式问卷。记录了教育程度、年龄、孕次、职业和社会人口学特征等信息。使用快速反应抗体试剂盒和吉姆萨染色法对静脉血进行疟疾筛查，同时使用氰化高铁血红蛋白法进行血红蛋白测定。结果表明，与成年孕妇相比，青春期孕妇更有可能感染疟疾（34.6%比 21.3%，调整后的比值比 1.65，95%置信区间，1.03-2.65，P=0.039）。此外，青春期孕妇贫血的可能性也高于成年孕妇（43.9%比 33.2%；调整后的比值比 1.63，95%置信区间，1.01-2.62，P=0.046）。综上所述，这些数据表明，与成年孕妇相比，青春期孕妇更有可能感染疟疾和贫血。本研究结果表明，为了保护这一脆弱的孕妇群体，该地区需要制定积极的针对青少年友好的疟疾和贫血控制政策和方案。
