The efficacy of intermittent preventive therapy in the eradication of peripheral and placental parasitemia in a malaria-endemic environment, as seen in a tertiary hospital in Abuja, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether intermittent preventive therapy in pregnancy (IPTp) eradicates peripheral and placental malaria and improves birth weight.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted of 426 pregnant mothers on IPTp with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine against malaria who presented in labor, at National Hospital Abuja, Nigeria between January and June 2017. The hospital is within the malaria-endemic zone of West Africa. Consenting pregnant women with uncomplicated singleton term pregnancy who had antenatal care in the hospital and lived in the study area for at least 6 months were consecutively recruited. Peripheral and placental blood were collected and examined for malaria parasite by microscopy. Babies were weighed at birth.

RESULTS

The prevalence of peripheral malaria parasitemia and placental parasitization were 12.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 10.0-16.6) and 9.4% (95% CI 7.0-12.7), respectively. Parasite density in both peripheral parasitemia and placental parasitization was low among the women that took IPTp, decreasing with increasing doses, with no parasitemia or parasitization in women that took up to three doses. Birth weight was lower in babies of mothers with plasmodium infestation than in those without infestation (P<0.001, P=0.024).

CONCLUSION

IPTp reduces both peripheral parasitemia and placental parasitization, with the capacity to eliminate or prevent them. IPTp also reduces low birth weight.